If I Die Young
by ravenclawslibrary
Summary: 1000 years later and Caroline still couldn't figure out just where it had all gone wrong. Niklaus was monster, Kol a menace, and Rebekah a parody of herself. To top it all off, more often than not Caroline found herself with a dagger in her heart. Such was the life of an Original.
1. 1016 AD - Part 1

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Everything TVD or TO related belongs to the CW

**_A/N: This is the long ago promised story of Original Caroline. I love fics that place Caroline growing up in the village with the Mikaelsons and getting turned into a vampire along with the rest of Klaus' siblings. There's something way too wonderful about the idea of Klaus meeting the love as his life as a human and spending the next 1000 years loving and hating her in equal measure. So that's what this is. It's sure to be a monster. _**

**_For age references - Elijah: 25, Finn: 23, Klaus: 20, Kol: 18, Rebekah & Caroline: 16, Henrik: 10. Though when we start, the girls are about six._**

**_I will warn you that I'm doing my best to research time periods, customs, and canon to make sure I don't get anything horribly inaccurate, but I'm going to be taking some liberties. They're speaking English in TVD flashbacks, not Norse, so I'm not going to break the bank on Viking manuals and ancient speech patterns. Vernacular and such will be a little off. _**

**_Otherwise, enjoy and let me know what you think!_**

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><p><strong>1016 A.D - Part 1<strong>

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><p>The first time he ever spoke to Caroline, it was to scold her.<p>

She and Rebekah had only been girls then, but they'd been fighting over a doll or a jewel or some such nonsense, and their squabbling was growing too loud. The whining had become shouting and the high-pitched squealing had begun echoing off the cave walls. The very walls that were supposed to be their refuge. The whole point of hiding from the wolves on the full moon was to remain unnoticed, which was damn near impossible when two eight-year-old girls would not just sit down and shut up.

Mikael had given him one responsibility now that Esther was busy with a new baby Henrik, and that responsibility had been Rebekah. And so with much effort, Niklaus had pulled his sister off of Caroline by her braid, and taken the doll away from both of them. Then, he'd sent the two girls in separate directions with a firm chastisement. Caroline had been walking back to her mother, when her blonde head whipped around in fury. She ran back towards him, gave him a swift kick in the shin, and then the doll was in her tiny clutches, being spirited back away.

"Bloody gremlin!" he'd called after her as she'd run off.

He'd limped for a whole day after.

Needless to say, his sister's little frenemy had not been his favorite house-guest over the years. With no siblings of her own to play with, Caroline was a constant presence in their home. She always got into the worst kinds of mischief, and he always ended up blamed for it. She would sneak into the paddock to play with the horses and end up letting them all loose. His fault. She'd play garden and end up getting all the fresh fruit covered in dirt. His fault. She had even set fire to a small tree in the backyard – accidentally of course – but again, it was his fault for not watching his sister and her companion more carefully.

The second time he ever spoke to Caroline, he had been fairly certain he'd just killed her.

"Rebekah, you come down from that tree this instant!" Klaus had yelled at his sister and her cohort as they swung from the branches of the Great White Oak Tree. They were far higher up than was allowed - even for rascally boys - and he honestly feared for his sister's safety. Caroline's... not so much.

"Did you hear something, Bekah?" Caroline's childish voice mocked him from above. "It's a shame we're so high up, I can't hear a thing over the wind!"

"You stay out of this, gremlin!" Klaus called up to her, trying to focus back on Rebekah.

His sister just giggled along with her though, "So strange... the wind sounds an awful lot like my tyrannical big brother."

"Where on earth did you learn that word, Bekah?" Klaus shouted.

"From one of Caroline's father's books. There was an etching of your big fat face next to it, so it was easy to understand what it meant!"

The girls shrieked with laughter at their own cleverness, which only incensed him further. He'd known letting Rebekah run off with Caroline so much would only lead to nonsense. The girl was obviously a horrible influence on his already precocious baby sister. Their laughter was drawing attention from a few nearby villagers, and the men chuckled in good humor with the girls' joke. As always with Klaus, what should have been a small bit of embarrassment snowballed into mortification, which in turn quickly morphed into anger. Anger was always dangerous for him. Before he even understood what he was doing, Klaus had yanked off his boot and thrown it will all his might directly at the two girls dangling from the branches above.

They screamed in shock, dodging to get out of the projectile's way.

Rebekah used her hold on the nearest branch to lean safely out of its path, but Caroline had no such handhold to depend on. She lurched to the side, and wobbled precariously on the edge of her seat. Her scream of panic was nothing compared to his as she toppled right off the tree and fell the great distance to the ground.

"Caroline!" Rebekah and Klaus both shouted at the same time, terrified out of their minds.

Klaus ran to her as Rebekah slowly climbed down, timid and scared of the height now after seeing her friend fall so terribly. Klaus reached her first, and noticed with a pang of fear that she was not moving. Gently rolling her to her side, he brushed the hair off the little girl's face and noticed her eyes were closed too. He prayed she was merely knocked out and not...

"Wake up, Caroline," he begged softly, patting her cheeks and shaking her shoulders. "Oh please, wake up! I didn't mean to, I swear it... oh gods..."

Through the haze of confusion and alarm, he remembered watching his mother and Ayana pressing their ears to their patients' chests to determine if the heart still beat beneath. He immediately did so, listening intently for any sign of a small _thump-thump_ to prove that he had not killed his sister's friend in his sudden moment of rage. For a horrifying second there was nothing. True silence. And then he couldn't hear anything over the shaking that suddenly rocked him and the laughter bubbling out of the girl's mouth above him.

Caroline let loose a stream of snorts that turned into bellowing laughter, "You should have heard yourself, Niklaus!" she spoke between breathless giggles. "_Oh Caroline, please wake up_," she mocked him mercilessly.

"Horrible child!" he yelled, tossing her away from him and watching her roll back to her feet as if nothing had happened.

Rebekah, finally back on the ground, pulled her friend into a desperate hug. Her relief at seeing her friend unhurt must have overshadowed the terror she'd just been feeling because she joined in on Caroline's giggles, mocking him for his theatrics. Rather than stick around to be teased, Klaus chose instead to yank his boot back on and storm off. If they wanted to get themselves killed, he was not going to stick around and take the blame for it. Not this time.

"I knew you cared for me, Nik!" Caroline called after him. "You can't hide it now!"

He gave her a rude hand gesture, his back still turned, and thought that nothing in the world could ever be more wrong.

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><p>It remained that way as the years dragged on; Caroline as Rebekah's constant playmate and Klaus' constant headache. The girls had progressed from fighting over dolls to hair ribbons to jewelry to dresses to boys. The seasons changed again and again, and before he'd even known it, he found Rebekah had turned into a woman. Or close enough at least. And Caroline along with her. That painful realization came at the most inopportune time.<p>

"Rebekah, let me have at it," Klaus complained, as he watched his sister etch her name into the cave wall.

"Quiet, Niklaus!" she scolded. "I need to have my concentration if I'm not to slice off a finger."

A small chuckle echoed behind him, and Klaus could not help but grind his teeth together at the sound. This place had been a secret for years, known only to Klaus and Rebekah. It was their escape from Mikael and all the evil he carried around with him. A safe haven from the beatings and the harsh words. Well… it had been. Until Rebekah had decided to bring Caroline along to carve their names into the wall.

"Careful, Bekah, you know how Nik gets when he pouts," Caroline teased.

"I do not pout," Klaus barked at her, which only incited more laughter. He turned back to his unruly sister. "Father will not like you handling a blade."

That got Rebekah's attention.

"If I want to wield a blade, I shall wield a blade. Father need not know," her tone was suddenly not that of his younger sister, but a far wiser woman. One who did not stand for rules or restrictions.

"Here, here!" Caroline praised her rebelliousness, moving in to stand beside Klaus with the small torch she carried. The heat was nearly overwhelming, and he had to draw in a deep breath before taking a step away.

"He'll find out," Klaus warned, "He always does."

"That is because you always tell him," Rebekah finally moved away from the wall, abandoning her half finished carving.

Klaus' eyes flitted downwards at the hard truth. He _did_ always break under Mikael's questioning. No matter how hard or how long he tried to stay strong, it never took more than a few insults or swift blows to make every wrongdoing come pouring out of his mouth.

"I cannot help it. He frightens me." The admission came out with more vulnerability than he'd intended, and he purposefully kept his eyes down to avoid seeing Caroline's reaction. There would either be pity or disdain on her face, and he would not tolerate either.

"He frightens us all," Caroline's soft voice carried over to him instead.

Lifting his gaze to hers, Klaus did not find any of the sympathy or disgust he'd expected to find after his confession of weakness. Instead, he found the exact same fear and loathing he felt in himself whenever the topic of Mikael came up. This girl, who had been in and out of their home for the past eight years, had come to know the truth of the Mikaelson clan better than anyone. Their patriarch was a monster of a man, dangerous to even the kindest soul.

Klaus couldn't help the surge of protectiveness that came over him. It was different than the times Mikael had raised a hand to Rebekah or Kol, or any of his other siblings. He'd felt rage and helplessness then and the urge to save his loved ones, of course. But this was different. Mikael would _never _hurt Caroline if Klaus had anything to say about it. Not ever.

"That is why we stick together as one, always and forever," Rebekah consoled him, missing the small exchange between the two of them. "Right, traitor?"

It was impossible to keep the small smirk off his face at her jab. "Right."

"Here you finish," Rebekah finally offered him the knife, "We're to help mother with the meal."

"Yes, go tend to dinner," Klaus teased them, "Leave the blades to the men, little girls."

Leaving his hand open for the blade was the wrong move, as it was slapped spitefully against his bare palm, cutting easily into flesh. He hissed and bit back a curse at the sharp slice of metal against skin. Damn that vindictive little monster that called herself sister.

"Bekah!" he growled in anger, watching the blood drip away from his rather large cut.

She only smiled cheerfully though. "It's just a little blood. Be a man about it!"

Rebekah grabbed the extra torch from the wall and danced off into the catacombs towards the exit. Caroline, however, hurried over, passing him her torch so she could use both hands to inspect the wound.

She tutted softly, "It's deep. You shouldn't let this alone, it will fester. Here…"

Before he knew it, the cut was stinging even more painfully than before, as Caroline smeared a few ground herbs she'd grabbed from her belt into the bloody gash. He hissed again, but willed himself not to shout at the small agony. Instead, he settled for small grunts and groans as Caroline dressed the wound and tied it off with a scrap of cloth she'd taken from her sleeve. By the time she reached the end of it, most of his palm had gone blissfully numb, except for the small tingles where her fingers touched still touched his.

"You come prepared," he ground the words out to keep from grimacing.

She just smiled and shook her head. "I find myself with the the strangest scrapes and cuts, so I tend to keep these on hand. Mother calls me an accident waiting to happen."

"Too true," Klaus agreed and received a glare for it.

"There," Caroline looked up as the bandage was finally wrapped, satisfied with her work. "All better."

He smiled begrudgingly back at her, still reluctant to thank her for her quick thinking. When she tutted at his stubbornness, her sudden breath ghosted across his face, and it occurred to him that they were standing quite close. He also realized that this was the first time he'd ever been alone with Caroline. What a way to begin, standing in a dark cave, holding hands under the firelight as evening fell on the village.

It was almost as though this was a lovers meeting.

The thought came to him as abruptly as it left, and he pulled his hand from Caroline's grasp twice as fast. "Off with you, Rebekah will be waiting."

He hadn't meant for it to sound like such a dismissal, but there it was. Caroline huffed angrily, incensed at his lack of gratitude no doubt, and grabbed the torch back from him before stomping away. This left him with the impossible conundrum of navigating the catacombs in pitch blackness, but it was preferable to spending another uncomfortable moment alone with that girl.

Klaus was late for supper that evening, and Mikael boxed his ears for it. As he lay down to sleep that night, head still ringing, he flexed his injured hand a few times, wondering why if his palm was still numb, his fingers would not stop tingling.

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><p>Ever their father's favorite, Rebekah's marriage had been arranged before any of her brothers'. Frederik was tall and handsome, and the boy could hold a decent conversation, so naturally he was Rebekah's dream. She could not go more than an hour or two without gushing over every little detail of the upcoming celebration. Her brothers, however, were less than excited.<p>

"Why are you the first to be married?" Kol complained loudly to anyone that would listen. "You're not oldest, you're certainly not the most appealing of Father's children…"

He got a wooden spoon to the back of the head for the insult. "I'm more appealing than you, you buffoon," Rebekah shrieked in outrage. "As if you wanted to be wed, anyways."

"You're too young to married," Klaus interjected, ignoring his siblings' squabbling. "And Kol is right. Giving you away first is horrible favoritism. We all know Father loves you best, but this is taking it a bit far."

"It's not favoritism, Nik," she tried valiantly to persuade him. "Father thinks me unable to take care of myself without a _strong, sturdy husband_ to provide for me. He knows he need not worry about such things with you boys."

"Or," Caroline chimed in from her spot laying on her stomach near the fire, "It's just that no one wanted to marry any of your ugly mugs."

"I'll show you ugly!" Kol took the opportunity to be a clown, as always.

Caroline squealed with laughter as he came after her, chasing her out the door and into the woods behind Mikael and Esther's home. Niklaus rolled his eyes at their antics. If anyone had taken to Caroline's constant presence best over the years, it was Kol. Sometimes the two of them created more mischief than all the children in the village combined. Thick as thieves those two were.

Rebekah watched them through the window with a small smile. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Is not the purpose of a secret to keep itself hidden?" he asked.

"Ni-ik," Rebekah whined.

"Oh, fine. Go on then."

His sister grinned victoriously, knowing he could deny her nothing. "I'm not the only one who is to be married soon. I overheard mother convincing father to ask for Caroline's hand. She will be my sister by year's end!"

Klaus stopped short at the news. "Who…"

"Kol, you idiot!" Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Mother said, and Father agreed. Don't you see how wonderful they are together? Always laughing and playing."

"That's because they're playmates, Bekah, not lovers."

"Not yet." She sang the words happily, as if she knew a thing about lovers. Her eyes stayed fixed out the window, and Klaus watched as Kol finally caught up to Caroline and swung her over his shoulder. He carried her over to the nearest bale of hay and tossed her right in, flopping in after her. Their bickering and laughter carried over to the house for the next few minutes.

Klaus only shook his head at their antics. Rebekah must have heard wrong. If their parents were going to find anyone a wife, it would be Elijah. He was oldest and well past the age he should be married. Or at least Finn, if they were going to pass over _noble _Elijah. And yet, neither of those options sat any better with him than Kol. The thought of Caroline married to any of his brothers rubbed him the wrong way, so much so that he could not find a wink of sleep that night. An uncomfortable weight had settled in his stomach and it refused to go away. He told himself it was only because he did not wish for the irksome girl to play an even greater role in his life than before. As of now, she was only his sister's little tag-along, and yet she was constantly inserting herself into his business. As his brother's wife? His sister by law? It would be unbearable.

And yet that small part of him, the one that remembered the way she'd bandaged his hand and smiled at him in the firelight, just wanted Caroline to stay unmarried forever. The same little girl, who always found a way to rankle his nerves.

The day that Kol and Caroline were told the news of the arrangement came shortly after Klaus himself found out. He didn't even need to be told that the engagement was official. Anyone with two eyes and a lick of common sense could tell that something was different between the young couple.

Where before their afternoons had been filled with playful laughter and roughhousing, they now consisted of quiet walks and awkward touches. Kol made a valiant attempt to joke about their fate with his future bride, but Caroline seemed despondent and upset more often than not. Even Kol's famous goat impression could not bring a smile to her face.

Soon enough, Kol stopped trying entirely, spending his days with Klaus instead.

"It isn't as though I'm thrilled with the prospect either, you know," he complained loudly to Klaus as they tied up the family's horses. "But I at least try to make the best of it. She just mopes and sulks and refuses to do as the rest of us do with this awful situation."

"And what is that?" Klaus asked.

"Pretend it's not actually happening of course!"

Klaus sighed heavily, "Caroline has never been one to ignore her problems. She fixes them or changes them or turns them around somehow. It is in her nature to be so, you know that. Perhaps you should try to talk to her about it instead of simply ignoring it?"

"Or…" Kol raised his eyebrows, looking hopefully at his brother.

"Absolutely not."

"Come on Nik," Kol begged. "You know you're better at this sort of thing than I am. She'll listen to you."

Klaus shook his head, refusing to be roped into this madness. "She will not. She loathes me, and the feeling is mutual. I would do more harm than good, and I will not take on the job of consoling _your _wife."

Kol shuddered at the words as he always did. "I hate it when you call her than."

"That's what she is, Kol."

"Not until the handfasting ceremony is complete and the whole bloody thing has been consummated, she isn't."

He couldn't help but cringe at the thought of exactly what Caroline's marriage to Kol would entail. Consummation. He wasn't an idiot, he knew what the more boisterous boys and girls got up to in the woods at night. He, himself, had dallied a time or two and was thus painfully aware of the intricacies of the marriage bed. The thought of Kol partaking in those activities with Caroline… there was that uncomfortable feeling in his stomach again. It was somewhere between the sensation of drinking too much ale and running the whole mile up to the falls. A combination of winded and nauseous.

"Please brother?" Kol did his best to look pathetic, and for some reason, Klaus found himself reluctantly agreeing. If Kol and Caroline had to be married, it was the least he could do for both of them to ensure that they had a somewhat happy marriage. If not happy, at least easy. "Wonderful, you can start now!"

Klaus snapped his head up to find Kol scampering off from an approaching Caroline.

Coward.

"It seems I've scared off your helper," Caroline moped. She leaned over the fence to run her hands through her favorite mare's mane, feeding the animal some small morsels she'd brought over. "I can help you finish up if you like?"

Klaus only waved her off. "Oh no, we all remember what happened the last time I let your near these beasts. I'd rather not spend the afternoon corralling them back into their stables, thank you."

Caroline humphed but stayed on her side of the fence. "It's not as though I intended to let them loose. They just… got away from me."

"Well, keep yourself on that side of the gate and we'll have no problems," Klaus warned her.

She sighed at his orders, but stayed put. She fed each animal little scraps from her hands, shushing them and cooing at them in the way girls tended to do. He in turn kept to his chore, washing the animals off and readying the tools to clean them. After her fifth or sixth forlorn sigh, Klaus had had enough of Caroline's wallowing.

"If I let you help me brush them, will you stop with this melancholy behavior? You're depressing even the horses now."

Caroline let out a whoop of joy and jumped up, launching herself over the fence and grabbing the nearest brush from the bin at his feet. She attacked the chore with fervor, raking the brush along the horse's front, but unfortunately her amateur hands were doing more damage than good. He came up behind her and plucked the brush out of her clumsy hands.

"Not like that, you're going to make me start all over, you little gremlin," he scolded, and she laughed at the nickname he threw at her whenever she got him in trouble.

"Well then, how is it done, oh wise master of beasts?"

"Like this," he grabbed her hand, placing the brush in it and covering it with his own. ""You can't just brush it wherever you want, you have to follow the shape of the animal. See where the hair goes on its own and follow that," he instructed. Together, they guided the brush along the horse's back, in line with the hair instead of against it like she'd been doing.

Every now and then, he'd correct her, speaking softly into her ear, as he would have spoken to the horses themselves, and then watching as she nodded her understanding. They stayed like that for a few moments, brushing the animal in silence, letting the rhythmic motion lull them into a comfortable companionship. It was almost nice, not having her snipe at him and not having to snap and her in response.

"Better?" she asked, turning to look back at him.

He swallowed to find her so close again, and he could see that this time she was not unaffected. A blush rose in her cheeks as she too realized how intimate the small distance between them had become. A heavy silence hung between them for a long moment, and Klaus could see her breaths becoming shorter. When she bit her lip nervously, he finally snapped himself out of the spell. A quick step to his left to check on the ropes that kept the animals in place dispersed any lingering tension between them.

"You're a natural," he complimented her to make up for the awkward exchange. "Perhaps I'll make you do my chores every week so that I can get a nap in before supper?"

Her laugh was not quite as bright as when she was playing with Kol or Rebekah, but at least he'd managed even this small bit of amusement.

"Is Kol unhappy with me?" she asked out of nowhere.

"Uhm…" Klaus tried desperately to think of an answer that would satisfy her. "I don't think he's angry with you, no."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "No, I mean is he _unhappy_ with me? With marrying me?"

Well then, right to the point. Klaus spent a bit longer checking on the bridle knots than was strictly necessary. When he'd agreed to talk to Caroline on Kol's behalf, he thought he'd have some time to come up with an acceptable way to broach the subject. He didn't think Caroline would be so forward as to come out and ask for her worst fears to be confirmed. What was worse, he couldn't even answer her truthfully. Was Kol disappointed? Yes. His little brother didn't seem to have an ounce of romantic affection for her at all. Much less an inclination to marry _anyone_. Was he unhappy? Klaus couldn't tell. He didn't seem quite so hopeless as Caroline seemed to be, but Kol always did like to put on a happy face during hard times.

"Are you unhappy marrying him?" Klaus asked, deciding that dodging the question entirely was the best option.

Caroline frowned, thinking on her answer. Her eyes darted to him unsurely before speaking. "Promise you will not laugh at me?"

"Why would I laugh?"

"Promise first."

"Fine, yes, I promise."

Caroline heaved a great sigh and let the words all tumble out. "I never wanted to marry Kol any more than I wanted to marry Rebekah or Alva or Freya. He's my friend not a… not a boy. A man. I just thought… I thought that I'd fall in love first, you know like in those silly stories. Then I'd get married and have children to adore just as much as I adored their father. I never thought I'd be married first, then have to learn how to kiss my husband without laughing at the absurdity of it all."

Klaus tried to interpret the little rant he'd just gotten. "So, you're worried you won't love Kol?"

"No, I'm sure I will eventually," Caroline's eyes remained on the horse she was brushing, and Klaus wished she would look at him so he could see the truth in her eyes. Did she really think herself capable of loving his brother like she said? The thought was not an appealing one. "My mother says it was the same with my father. They were awkward strangers for years until the marriage changed them. But eventually the feelings came. She says they always do, some just take longer than others."

"I've heard it so as well," Klaus remembered his mother remarking on one of the village girls who was unhappy with her match. Esther had promised the girl's mother that in many cases, marriage came before love. He somehow couldn't see Caroline settling into feelings like that. She was so full of life and vitality, happiness and fire. The idea of a girl like her slowly accepting her fate and forcing feelings that weren't there was almost laughable. Caroline seemed more like the love at first sight type if he was a guessing man. One of those girls that would run away in the night with the love of her life, parents and propriety be damned.

"Do you think Kol will feel that way about me?" Caroline asked. "Eventually?"

"I..." Klaus trailed off, thinking of all the time Kol had spent chasing after girls he had no intention of marrying. The way his face had twisted at the news that Caroline was to be his wife. And the way he treated the entire subject like it was some joke, which no one was laughing at.

Caroline's face fell. "Am I so unlovable?"

The guilt he felt at her sorrow was immediate. He hadn't meant to insult her. Not at all. He reached out and stopped her hand on the horse's back, covering it with his own.

"Any man would be lucky to have you for a wife, Caroline. Truly."

She smiled at him through her tears, and he couldn't help his hand as it reached to wipe them away. Caroline leaned into his touch, briefly closing her eyes at the comforting gesture. Their embrace was broken as the horse she'd been attending to became impatient with her delay and kicked over the pail at his feet. Water flooded everywhere, and Klaus quickly reached down to right the fallen bucket. When he looked back up, it was to see Caroline running back in the direction of her house, away from him.

He watched her go, feeling slightly more confident that he'd managed to smooth over some of the rough edges between Kol and his future wife.

And yet for some reason, the idea that he'd made it easier for his brother to woo Caroline did not give him the satisfaction he'd hoped for at all.

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><p><strong>The format for this fic is going to be very different from Sinners. It's going to be more of a chunk of time here and another chunk there, just sort of snapshots of their 1000 years together. Within those snapshots will of course be stories, sometimes lasting one chapter, sometimes last three or four. However long it takes to tell the story. How they fell in love, how the fell out of it, where the hybrid curse comes in and where NOLA plays a part. It's going to be kind of like popcorn because I don't intend to go in chronological order all the time. I will try to tell a complete story within a time period before I hop around to the next century though. <strong>

**I will also say that this is one fic I'm not entirely sure will get finished. I hate to do that, but there's just SO MUCH to cover. I'll write as long as I have the inspiration (if you keep me from watching TO and TVD and you'll probably get rewarded with more chapters haha) but this might get marked unfinished eventually.**

**And I will make it clear right here, this is NOT a love triangle. Caroline and Kol are bros, nothing more :)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. 1016 AD - Part 2

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything TO or TVD related belong to the CW

_**A/N: I will state again here, THERE WILL BE NO LOVE TRIANGLE between Kol/Caroline/Klaus. Knock that shit off right now. There will however be a sort of forbidden love story going on because of her involvement with Kol. It's been really to write and I hope it's fun for you to read! ** _

_**I'm totally blown away by the response to this fic, guys. Thank you for being so enthusiastic and reviewing! **_

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><p><strong>1016 A.D - Part 2<br>**

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><p>Unfortunately for Rebekah, the adults decided that Caroline's wedding should come first.<p>

The girls did not speak for weeks after the decision was made, Rebekah sulking as this meant that her marriage would be put off for months until after the winter passed. You couldn't very well have a wedding festival when you were up to your knees in ice and snow.

Subsequently, Caroline was banished from Rebekah's presence and did not see much of Klaus in the weeks following their first ever civil conversation.

She had to admit, she missed the time she spent at Rebekah's home now that she was barred from it by the unhappy bride to be. It wasn't her fault that they wanted Kol married before he set off on his first extended trading trip. Some silly superstition that made them all wary he wouldn't return and needed to wed and bed his bride to continue his family line. As if his four brothers wouldn't see to that? Honestly, Caroline would have given anything to trade places with Rebekah. To keep things as close to normal as she could for another season. Instead, she was being rushed into a commitment she'd never wanted in the first place.

The easiest way for her to cope had also turned out to be the most productive. Caroline planned her wedding ceremony down to the smallest detail, including the exact stitching of her dress and the exact meadow she would pick her flowers from. The entire village made up the guest list, something Mikael had not agreed with, but Esther had indulged. The ring she had picked out for Kol was one she was sure he would appreciate. It had a deep green stone at the center of it, and the gold setting had been hammered almost to perfection. She hoped he bothered to put half the effort into her ring as she'd put into his, though knowing Kol he'd forget the thing entirely.

With the ceremony just days away, Caroline soon became desperate to reconcile with Rebekah. She could not spend the entirety of her wedding festival avoiding her closest friend – and sister. So with a heavy heart, she climbed the hill on the north side of the village to approach the one person who could curry favor with her tempestuous sister-to-be.

"What do you want now, Caroline?" Klaus asked impatiently as she plopped herself down beside him under the tree he'd been lounging against all morning.

"Must I want something to spend time with a dear friend?"

"Dear friend," he laughed aloud at the thought. "Now I know you want something."

She twisted her face at him, but he was not paying attention. His gaze had never left the book that laid in his lap. Caroline had always assumed he'd been writing whenever she saw him with the musty thing. A list of chores or a letter or perhaps deducting figures for his father. Instead, when she leaned over to take a peek, she saw that he was sketching on the paper inside. Quite well too.

The outline of a horse was easy enough to make out in the foreground, but it was the mountains in the back that impressed her most. She'd never seen mountains before, not real ones. She'd never traveled so far. But she'd seen drawings in her book and heard stories of their impressive heights. Nothing compared to the detail that Niklaus had managed to capture though. It was as if she could look up from the page and find them stretching out over the horizon in front of her.

"How beautiful," she sighed, leaning so that her shoulder pressed against his.

Klaus tensed next to her and snapped the book shut. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," she joked, reaching for the sketchbook again, though he kept it out of reach. "What else can you draw? Have you seen the statue that stands in the middle of the natives' village? Can you draw that? I've always wanted to see it."

Caroline knew she was being impetuous , but it was as if she'd just discovered a million and one ways to see the world that only the men of her village were allowed to lay eyes on. Great lakes and mountains and animals. They all probably existed in this sketchbook, right within her grasp.

"It's not polite to grab at things, gremlin. Keep your grubby hands to yourself," Klaus scolded, keeping the book held high above his head.

With a great lunge, Caroline grabbed for the prize and fell right on top of him, sprawled out across his chest. They both had a hand on the sketches and there was a playful game of tug that took place in this silly position. And then all at once, Klaus stopped pulling. She snatched the book for herself and grinned up at him victoriously, but Klaus' eyes were elsewhere, and his face turning a deep shade of red. Worried she'd done real damage, she carefully scooted herself off him.

"Did I hurt you, Nik?" she helped pull him up off the ground.

Klaus cleared his throat, pulling strangely at his tunic and hunching back against the tree, "No, I'm fine. Did you want to look or not?" he gestured towards the book.

She smiled at receiving permission and started to flip through the pages eagerly. Horses seemed to be the main fixation, though that was predictable. Klaus loved his family's horses, and took such wonderful care of them. There were also some sketches of the swimming hole nearby and the falls. But every now and then, she'd catch a glimpse of the full moon peeking between the trees. And below it, shadowy shapes with piercing eyes. In fact, these images were present almost as much as the horses.

"You've seen them , haven't you?" she whispered. "When the moon is full, and the men turn to beasts?"

"That's forbidden," he answered, but she noticed it was not a denial.

"But you've done it? I've noticed you missing from the caves sometimes, but I never thought you'd actually…"

Klaus yanked the sketchbook back from her, clearly defensive now. "You'll never prove it."

"I won't tell," Caroline promised, eager to hear more about the mystery that had surrounded her since birth. "Will you take me with you next time?"

"Not a chance," he hissed. "You'll get yourself killed and I'll take the blame. As always."

Caroline stuck her tongue out, and immediately their playful manner was back. She enjoyed this. Joking and playing with him as if they were actually friends. Niklaus had always treated her like a plague on their house. It was refreshing to be treated so kindly, whatever the reason. Perhaps he had changed his attitude in anticipation of her joining his family? Maybe he'd treat her like Bekah now, taking on the role of big brother. That seemed strange to her, but not unwelcome. To have Niklaus as her constant protector, watching over her and spending time with her as if they were connected by more than just a loose association. That would be almost… nice.

She lay down in the grass, and she heard the scratch of wood against paper take up again. For a while, they simply sat together, bathing in the sunlight and listening to the birds calling through the forest.

"I had wanted to ask a favor of you," she mumbled lazily as she remembered her reason for coming up here in the first place.

"I've told you, I will not take you out on a full-"

"No, no, I can see you're set on that," Caroline had decided to let that issue go for now. She'd try again next month. Let it never be said that she was a quitter. "I want to make things right with Rebekah. She's been so cross since she found out I'm to be married before her, and I'm tired of tip-toeing around her. You know her tantrums best, what can I do to make amends?"

Klaus let out a deep breath. "You girls and your silly quarrels."

"It's not silly!" she practically shrieked.

"Right, fine. It's not," he hurriedly agreed after her outburst.

"I mean," she began again, determined to keep her emotions in check. "It is silly, but it's not. She was betrothed first, she should be the one getting married before the winter set in, not me. We were both so excited for her wedding, I suppose she feels like I've stolen a bit of her excitement for myself. I would trade places with her if I could, but I can't. She knows that, doesn't she?"

The blades of grass around her face had her full attention now, and she picked them out of the earth one by one. The silent scratching behind her made her think that Klaus had not been paying attention to her at all, but eventually he spoke up.

"Of course she knows. Bekah just wants the attention that she thinks is going to be given to you now. First to marry, first to be a wife, first to…" he trailed off unsurely. "Anyways, if you can make her feel like some of the attention belongs to her again, she might cancel her plans to set fire to your dress during the ceremony."

"What?!" Caroline screamed, shooting up to look at him.

His lips were pressed together tightly to keep him from laughing, which made her breathe a sigh of relief. She did end up throwing her picked blades of grass at him, leaving him looking rather comical with a slew of earth and dirt spread all over his lap.

"Can I ask _you_ a question?" he looked up at her openly.

This was new. Niklaus never bothered with her if he could avoid it. "Go on," she encouraged him.

"You said you would trade places with Rebekah if you could. Do you truly not wish to marry my brother?" Klaus seemed to consider the question very rude, appearing to expect a slap at any moment.

On the contrary, she felt like she could kiss him. No one had asked her that from the moment they'd announced the match. Not a single person had asked if this was what she wanted, or if perhaps she had a different future in mind for herself. They all expected her to be delighted that she was set to marry a boy that she considered more of a pet than romantic partner. It had all happened so quickly with so little notice, it almost felt like this was the first time she was allowing herself to actually think on the topic. Did she want to marry Kol? Did she really?

"No," she breathed the word softly and then slapped a hand to cover her traitorous mouth. "I just meant that I-I…"

Klaus held up a hand to stop her stuttered apologies. "Then why did you agree to it?"

"My parents want this for me. _Your_ parents want this. It's a good match, and I'll be provided for. Bekah will be my sister, and Kol… Everyone will be so angry if I don't."

"If this is about Mikael," Klaus began angrily, but Caroline cut him off.

"No, it isn't. I promise." He gave her a doubtful look in return. "Well, not entirely," she compromised, looking down at her skirts to arrange them and avoid his eye.

Klaus sighed deeply, inching over and lifting her chin with one finger. "No one can make you do anything you don't wish to do, Caroline. I learned that lesson years and years ago, trust me," he chuckled with her at their own private joke. "If this marriage is not what you want, say something. You will have my support, no matter how little it matters."

Caroline's eyes filled with tears, and there was a swooping sensation in her chest. He truly meant that. Whatever she chose, he would be on her side, and for some absurd reason that meant the world to Caroline. She had an ally in this mess, and it had come in the form of the strangest person. She felt dizzy and elated and terrified all at once, which was the only explanation for why she pushed herself forward and pressed her lips firmly onto his.

Her eyes snapped open almost immediately – when had they drifted shut? – and she gazed right into Klaus' slightly distorted face in front of her. Their lips stayed pressed together for a moment before she yanked herself back and let her mouth drop open. She wanted to pile on the excuses and apologies, but nothing came out. They just sat there in silence, her mouth hanging open and his eyes wide with shock. After a gulp of fresh air, she tried to speak again, but it was all in vain. Niklaus stood up awkwardly, a bit unsure on his feet, and tore off down the hill towards the village at a very brisk pace.

Caroline dropped her face into her hands. "Stupid girl. What were you thinking?" she scolded herself, still in shock.

After a few more minutes – hours - of sulking and mortification, she stood up to return home and face the consequences of her impulsive actions. But as she turned to leave, Caroline noticed that Klaus had left in such a hurry that he'd forgotten his sketchbook. She moved to pick it up and was struck by what she found on the open page.

It was her.

Exactly as she'd been strew out on the grass earlier when they'd sat in companionable silence. Her eyes were closed, and there was a small content smile on her face. She looked relaxed and happy, and almost… suggestive with her pose. Did the swell of her breasts really peak out of the neckline of her dress so much? Were her hips actually so round? But the most confusing part of the sketch was not the physical aspects Klaus had focused on. It was the shading of the drawing and how it seemed as though any light in the picture came directly from her. Her face and her smile were the source of it all, glowing with happiness.

She knew she would have to return the book, and she knew she would be caught, but still, Caroline made a bold decision. She yanked at the ties holding the papers in the book, and ripped the newest drawing out from the rest. Folding in gently, she tucked it inside the bodice of her dress, and then snapped the thing shut. The sketch would be hers, she decided, choosing not to focus on the bizarre day this had turned into.

Later that evening, she handed the book off to Elijah, making him promise to deliver it to Klaus for her. If he found it strange that the item had come into her possession he thankfully did not comment on it.

And that night, two days before she was wed to his brother, Caroline pulled out Klaus' drawing and remembered the feel of his lips against hers.

* * *

><p>On the day of her union to Kol, Caroline woke with a pit in her stomach as big as she'd ever had. Nothing about the day felt right or happy, but she was determined to put on a bright face and accept her future. Stolen kisses and hidden drawings be damned, today she would make her mother and father proud by doing exactly as they'd asked her to her whole life. <em>Be quiet and do as you are told.<em>

Her only saving grace was that Rebekah had graciously forgiven her and agreed to stand with her in place of a sister during the ceremony. Caroline had taken Klaus' advice to heart, realizing the only way to appease Bekah was to make the day even a little bit about her too. Caroline did not begrudge her the attention in the way she might have if she'd been as giddy about the wedding as she should have been. Rebekah talked her ear off all morning about surprise decorations and how Henrik had nearly been crushed beneath a log as he and Klaus had set up the bonfire. Caroline knew Klaus would be sporting one of Mikael's bruises tonight for that incident, and for the first time in many years she wanted to hit Mikael right back. He had a son who was noble, brave, kind, and talented, and all he could do was degrade and abuse him. How on earth could someone so vile create a family so wonderful?

Caroline made herself a promise in that moment that she would never forget. Not in all her years to come. She would make it her mission to protect Klaus from his father, no matter the cost. If she could not love her husband, she could certainly love his family, and that was that.

"Just think, Caroline," Rebekah gushed. "Tonight you'll be my sister! After years stuck with only brothers and more brothers, I shall finally have the sister I've longed for. And we will finally get to talk about all the secrets sisters share with each other!"

"You already know all my secrets, Rebekah," Caroline shook her head, doing her best not to think about the one very big secret Rebekah did _not_ know.

The other blonde just rolled her eyes, "Not silly secrets like hiding places and sewing tricks. Real secrets. Important ones."

"I don't understand," Caroline's brows drew together in confusion.

"I'm to be married soon too you know," Rebekah gave her a meaningful look. "The one benefit of your going first is that you can prepare me for how everything works. You know… _tonight_."

Oh heavens, no. Caroline could barely let herself think on the wedding night, let alone discuss it with anyone else.

Rebekah must have seen the disgust on her face because she pulled a grimace herself. "Well I don't want details! He is my brother after all, that would be vile. But you _will _tell me what I want to know, oh sister of mine."

Caroline did her best to laugh the joke off and forget about the topic as a whole. She did not succeed.

Before she knew it, she was slipped into a dress of the lightest blue with white flowers adorning her braided hair. Esther brought in a few secret vials that added color to her lips, and others that blended onto her eyes and cheeks. The small mirror in the corner of the room showed her to be a beautiful bride – if a bit pale and nervous.

When she was led outside, her spirits were slightly lifted by the startling amount of ribbons and flowers strung up all over the village center. The sun had begun to set behind the trees, bathing everything in a sort of fairy glow, and she smiled to see it all done for her. Caroline had never considered herself particularly beloved by the villagers (she had gotten up to far too much trouble for that) but her every wish and whim had been met by her family and friends, which was truly touching.

And at the center of it all stood Kol, with his hair finally tamed and his best vest tucked primly into his belt.

Unsurprisingly, her heart did not flutter. Secretly, she'd hoped that at this last moment with the decorations and the crowd surrounding them, some spark would light between the two of them. That those silly romantic notions stuck in her head would finally be fulfilled. No such luck, it seemed.

Still, it was a lovely ceremony.

Mikael spoke the sacred words over their shared cup of wine. Kol presented her with a newly forged sword that she would bestow on their first son. Rebekah even shed a few tears when the vows were complete and called her 'sister'.

It wasn't until the ceremony was drawing to a close that Caroline lost her focus. She'd been trying not to wonder where Niklaus was all evening, having noticed him missing from the family lineup right away. When she hadn't spotted him in the square, she'd grown worried. Skipping his brother's wedding was indicative enough of the damage she'd caused with her kiss, but that was the least of their problems. Mikael would never stand for such impudence, and she actually feared for Klaus' life if he did not show his face soon.

But as her new father-in-law tied the symbolic chord around her and Kol's hands, declaring them in front of all of their guests as husband and wife, Caroline finally caught sight of Klaus. As expected, he was sporting an impressive bruise under his chin, as if he'd been hit in the face only hours earlier. He seemed surly and detached, and Caroline suspected that he'd only just arrived, if his slightly labored breathing was any indication. She prayed for his sake that his father had not noticed his absence or there would be hell to pay.

His eyes locked on hers and an unspoken exchange passed between them.

She lifted her eyebrows in question. _Are you all right?_

He shook his head firmly. _Leave me alone. _

Well then, that was that. He wanted nothing to do with her, just as she'd suspected. It had always been so when they were children, she didn't know why she'd expected anything different now.

Kol leaned in for a chaste kiss to end the ceremony, and she politely pecked him back. The first of many awkward kisses to come. Lovely.

The night did improve when the bonfire lit up and the festival began. Dancing and merriment filled the square, and wine, oh sweet wine, was passed around for everyone. Caroline usually never cared for the stuff, but tonight she drank it down like a woman dying of thirst. She enjoyed the contented buzzing feeling it stirred in her head, and how the more she found her cup empty, the less she cared that she'd just married a man whom she would never ever be able to embrace without thinking of that ridiculous goat impression.

But at least he could dance.

"You're not keeping up Caroline!" Kol shouted at her as they weaved in and out of the other dancers in the group.

"Am too, you dolt!" she shouted back. "It's you who's off count, would you like me to tell them to slow it down for you?"

They circled each other and the other couples over and over again, laughing themselves silly when they realized that both of them were off. The other dancers humored them though; it was their wedding day after all. The one person who did not seem to be enjoying himself was Niklaus. He watched their dancing from a corner table, drinking his fill and shouting at anyone who tried to approach him.

"That surly brother of mine just can't let loose and have fun, even on my wedding night," Kol groused as the dance ended and he helped her fill up her goblet again.

"I'm sure he's not trying to be rude. I heard he got into a fight with your father earlier, he's probably just upset about it."

"Picked a fight more like it," Kol revealed shaking his head. At her shocked look he explained, "He knew that piece of wood was too heavy for Henrik. You know how he dotes on our baby brother, he'd never have made a mistake like that. Not with Henrik's safety. It's like he was looking for a beating, I swear."

Caroline swallowed heavily. "But why would he do such a thing?"

"Who knows?" Kol brushed the question off. "Whatever sins my big brother is atoning for, they will not ruin my evening or yours. Another drink is in order, I think!"

They passed the night in much the same fashion, drinking and dancing and laughing until their sides hurt. If the night could have just ended there, Caroline would have called it the most enjoyable evening of her life. Sadly, it was not all fun and games. There was the matter of consummation to be sorted, and both Kol and Caroline were dreading the moment which came too soon. Mikael stood up to dismiss the newlyweds to retreat back home without them, a clear sign that they were meant to go and finish the job, so to speak.

Thinking on the herbs Esther had given her – _"For the pain my love. The act is not without suffering. Trust me on that." _– Caroline motioned for Kol to go on without her. She ran back to her family's cottage, rifling through the mess of ribbon and fabric until she found her prize. One deep breath and a stray tear later, she tucked the small parcel into her belt and headed off for her new home.

She was barely out the door before two hands wrapped around her waist and her mouth, pulling her back into the shadows.

It was only Klaus' shushing voice in her ear that kept her from screaming. "Shhh, it's me. It's me. You're safe."

Caroline sagged in relief, sinking back into his arms. Nothing truly bad ever happened in their village, but still. Running through the dark at night, alone, with so much wine making her head fuzzy? It was not the safest of ideas. Pulling his hand off her mouth, Caroline quickly turned around to face him. She had meant to confront him about what he thought he was doing here, but the wine and the hem of her dress conspired against her. They both stumbled together, running into the wall of Caroline's home. Being pressed up against him, Caroline could smell the horrible stench of ale – not her drink of choice – all over him. She supposed that was the reason for their shared stumbling. He'd likely indulged even more than she had. It was also no doubt the reason for his sudden appearance. Liquid courage had finally made him brave enough to confront her over her awful actions the other day.

Caroline groaned at him. "You're drunk."

"So are you," he shot back, his words slurring just a bit.

"Am not," Caroline gasped in outrage, delighted to see her denial has caused a smile to cross his face after a night spent moping. Perhaps the damage she'd done had not been so awful after all? "I happen to be a married woman, and married women do not get drunk in public. So there."

"Do not say that," Klaus spoke deeply, and she noticed that his smile had slipped away.

She found herself frowning too. "Say what?"

"That you are married. That you are a married woman. Don't say it, I don't want to hear it."

Caroline let loose scoff of outrage, but it came out more confused. "Why not? It's what I am."

"But it's not what you want."

"Yes it is."

The lie fell flat between them, and Klaus raised one eyebrow doubtfully. He swayed slightly, and she felt herself move with him. It was then that she realized they were still rather wrapped up in each other. Her hands locked around each of his arms for balance, and his on her waist and back. Their fronts were pressed so close that they practically melded together. Caroline knew her breath reeked of wine as much as his reeked of ale, but she couldn't bring herself to lean back. Perhaps it was because her head was so mixed up with drunken thoughts, but she enjoyed this. She enjoyed being so wrapped up in another person that it felt like you were one body. A mimicry of the awfulness that awaited her with Kol tonight.

"No," she finally admitted. "It is not what I want."

Niklaus surprised her then, leaning down to press his forehead softly against hers. It was such a small gesture, but it somehow made her feel understood. Like he was with her in this sea of uncertainty she was facing. And it brought back that intimacy they'd shared so briefly with her kiss.

"What do _you_ want?" Caroline whispered the question out before she lost her nerve.

Klaus' eyes opened slowly, blurry and unfocused but still so very warm. "I want that which I cannot have."

His confession cut like a knife through the air between them. It was not only her. It was him too. And somehow that made it bearable. It was not right and it was not proper, but yes. Bearable. Maybe it was the wine or the shadows or just this endless moment hanging between them, but Caroline felt compelled to close the distance between them once more.

His lips were softer that she remembered, and much more _insistent. _Where before he'd be the shocked victim of an unexpected advance, now he was a willing participant in all things Caroline. His hands slid down to grasp her hips, pulling her firmly towards him, and his lips attacked her own as if he were starving for her. Soon his tongue was in her mouth and she was shivering at all the hot, wonderful wetness that came with this deep kind of kissing. His teeth nipped at her lips and there was a sudden clenching inside of her that had her whimpering loudly into his mouth. Klaus drew back, his face full of apologies for hurting her, but Caroline had no time or patience for that. She threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling him back to her and kissing him with all the passion he'd ignited in her.

Her vigor pulled him back into the moment, and she could not help but sigh as his lips traveled down to her neck, biting and sucking at the skin there. There was a delicious heat pooling between her legs, and it only grew as one of his hands traveled down her backside to her thigh, hitching it up around his hip. _Oh my._ Caroline nearly cried out as the motion steadily stoked the fire between them, barely managing to muffle her noises by pressing her face into his neck.

The snap of a branch and the sound of distant giggling had them both freezing where they were. A young couple, the girl an acquaintance of Caroline's sped past them without a second glance, stopping to kiss as they snuck off into the woods. Drunk out of their minds no doubt. The amorous couple was obviously too caught up in each other to notice Klaus and Caroline in the first place, which was a relief. But the spell was broken, and now they were left wrapped up in each other with nothing but silence all around them.

They pulled away at the same time, righting limbs and losing their balance once or twice. Damn that wine, it was making her loopy and clearly inhibiting her judgment. Her hands still shaking with excitement from his kisses, Caroline realized that what had just happened was so very wrong.

"I can't," she whispered. "We can't."

Klaus' face closed off, and he nodded, leaning down to pick up the bottle he must have set down when he heard her coming. He didn't even say one word to her, just shook his head once more before he disappeared off into the woods himself.

It was all Caroline could do not to cry. Had she just committed adultery? She was fairly certain she had. At least where it counted because a horribly hollow feeling had replaced the pure joy she'd felt when she'd been in Klaus' arms. Whether it was lust or affection or even love, Caroline was sure enough that she'd betrayed her husband in some unforgivable way. Or maybe that did not count until the marriage had been consummated?

Consummation. Oh, no!

Caroline had forgotten that Kol was still waiting for her in his family's house! If she waited much longer, Esther and Mikael might beat her there, and then she'd truly have some explaining to do.

The buildings and trees flew by her as she sprinted through the west side of the village to the home where her husband dwelled. She stumbled a few times, but finally made it through the door, huffing and puffing with the exertion of a long run. Kol was nowhere in the main room, so that meant he must have been in his bedroom. It had also been Klaus' bedroom until recently, not that she wanted to think on that particular detail for long. She pushed the tarp aside and nearly got knocked over as Kol walked right into her. She could see the worn path where he'd obviously been pacing, and she felt a small bit of guilt for keeping him waiting.

That was quickly squashed down when she realized she had so much more to feel guilty about.

They sprung apart at their first touch, and then stood awkwardly next to one another for a moment.

"I thought you might have made a run for it," Kol joked.

There was that guilt again. "I remembered I forgot something at home is all," Caroline explained, trying not to let her voice shake.

Before she lost her nerve, Caroline nervously started pulling her dress off. Kol followed suit, taking his vest and belt off and placing them in the corner with his other things. Left only in her shift, Caroline handed him her dress to place with the other things. When they'd finally run out of things to sort, they both glanced towards the bed. It was only a slightly raised pallet of pillows and blankets, obviously made larger in recent days for her addition, and yet Caroline still blanched at everything it represented.

"Do you want to…" Kol's voice came out younger and shakier than she'd heard it in years.

"No." Caroline answered, panicked but firm. "Definitely not."

Kol puffed out a gust of air, "Oh thank the gods."

He flung himself on the bed, tearing his boots off and puffing the pillows up behind his back. Caroline took her cue, stuffing herself into the smallest corner possible and making sure that not an inch of her body touched Kol's in any way.

"Goodnight," Caroline squeaked, still nervous for some reason.

"Sweet dreams, Caroline," Kol ruffled her hair affectionately, and she laughed as the strangeness between them disappeared.

Perhaps this could work after all? Friends turned husband and wife, reluctantly sharing a bed and a life before easing themselves into the prospect of… everything else. Facing the next three months away from her husband and being halfway in love with his brother meant nothing, right?

No, that was not a recipe for disaster at all.

* * *

><p><strong>And once more with feeling... THERE IS NO LOVE TRIANGLE BETWEEN BROTHERS HERE. <strong>

**Okay, I think we got that one out in the open. If I get one review asking me about romantic Koroline, I swear to god...**


	3. 1016 AD - Part 3

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything TO or TVD related belongs to the CW

_**A/N: This Original Village section is taking a lot longer than anticipated. As of right now, I'm predicting six parts when it was supposed to be three. This is never a good sign in the outlining process. Let me tell you, it makes me pretty damn scared for the 1200s section I have mapped out. Help.** _

* * *

><p><strong>1016 A.D - Part 3<strong>

* * *

><p>The four nights Caroline and her husband spent together were largely awkward and filled with long silences. They both agreed that the topic of consummation was best left for later. After Kol returned from his trip, and they'd both had some time to adjust to the concept, they'd revisit the topic. No one would think it strange that Caroline had failed to fall pregnant in such a short time, and they both made sure to retire early every night to give the appearance of a couple enjoying the pleasures of the marriage bed for the first time.<p>

But that left them with the terrible conundrum of what to do for the last few hours of the evening before sleep overcame them.

When the silence became too much, they would whisper secrets to each other in the dark, as they had when they were children.

"Tell me something no one outside of your family knows," Caroline urged him, making sure to keep her voice low.

"I suppose that is fitting, now that you are family," Kol laughed. He thought on the question for some time before he spoke next. "Mother is a witch," he offered up nervously.

Caroline just laughed. "Something _real_, Kol."

"It is real," he tried to convince her, his tone completely sincere.

"No it isn't. It's only a story she spread amongst children to keep them out of her medicinal garden," Caroline giggled, but she soon noticed that Kol was not laughing with her. His face was full of shame, as if he'd shared something personal and she'd laughed at it. She supposed she had. "Surely she's not actually... magical?"

"She is," Kol confirmed. "I've seen her and Ayana perform the strangest sorts of miracles. Sometimes... sometimes it frightens me."

Reaching out her hand to take his, Caroline silently assured Kol that his secret was safe with her. Witchcraft was not a crime in their village, far from it. Magic was at the core of their lives, whether it be men turning to wolves or the trees that lived on eternally. Still, the villagers feared magic more than they embraced it, and if Esther wanted to keep her powers a secret, Caroline would abide. This was her family now, and she would protect them as such.

"Thank you for telling me," Caroline whispered and squeezed Kol's hand tighter.

The trading party's departure a few days later was a welcome one, which in turn made Caroline feel awful. What kind of wife wished her husband away for months at a time? The kind who passionately kissed said husband's brother only hours after the ceremony, she guessed. Still, she waved Kol off like the doting wife she pretended to be, and the villagers all cooed at the two young lovers like they were the most adorable sight ever seen.

Her other problem was not so easily solved. Niklaus had been reclusive and shifty in the days following the wedding. He would not meet her gaze or even speak to her, which was normal as far as his family was concerned. But for Caroline it was torture. Where had their easy camaraderie gone? Their budding friendship? She couldn't believe one or two drunken kisses could topple their fledgling relationship, no matter how delicious those kisses had been. Though perhaps thoughts like that were the exact reason that Klaus stayed away. If Caroline could not trust herself to keep pure thoughts in her head, what hope did she have for her actions?

A welcome surprise came the day after Kol left though. Mikael had chosen to accompany his traveling party, leaving her new home now free of the two biggest sources of stress for her. Maybe without Mikael scaring Klaus into submission, he'd be more willing to talk with her?

But in Mikael's place, a new and terrible annoyance had arrived in the village.

Tatia Petrova had immigrated to the new world as a child with a wave of settlers to the south, in a village Caroline had never heard of. Tatia had claimed a sickness struck her village and she had fled with her infant daughter to escape it. A kind old couple next door to Mikael's home had taken pity on her and allowed her to be their ward, but Caroline was quite sure she was the physical embodiment of evil in this world. She was too beautiful, too vivacious, too _utterly perfect _to be anything other than a demon sent to terrorize them all. Rebekah agreed, and the fact that Tatia had shown up with a newborn and no husband allowed the two girls to be rather unjustly rude to her without reprimand. Tatia was not invited into the sewing group with the girls their age or to the final swimming hole trip before the cold set in. There were no flowers woven in her hair on the harvest, nor stories shared with her around the fire.

If Caroline had only foreseen the consequences of her awful rudeness, she might have made an effort to include Tatia in some of their activities. But her pettiness got the best of her, as it often does with young girls, and Tatia was left isolated.

Therefore, it was only natural that with no female companionship, the beauty had found it among the men of the village.

At first, Elijah seemed to be her prize, which enraged Bekah to no end. Caroline didn't much care for the prospect of having Tatia as a sister either, but the thought of Elijah happy and settled - even with someone so awful - was enough to quiet her objections.

Then it all got so much worse.

Niklaus had been distant from everyone for weeks. It was unbearable for Caroline, frustrating for Rebekah, and worrying for Esther. His isolation and sullen attitude was starting to draw attention. Growing up, he'd never been so carefree as Caroline of course, but he'd been a happy child and an outgoing boy. It had always been easy to set him laughing or include him in an adventure. Now, he spent his days who knows where, shirking off his duties and disappearing for hours on end. Every now and again, Caroline would catch sight of him with Tatia, taking a walk, or helping her with some chore or another.

She tried to convince herself it was not jealousy boiling inside of her whenever she spotted them together.

And failed miserably.

It seemed he'd found a new friend in her absence. A soon to be sister-in-law that didn't throw herself into his arms and then reject his advances. Tatia was his new companion, and Caroline strove not to allow it to bother her. If he wanted to shun her in favor of the _beautiful Tatia_, then so be it. He could befriend whomever he liked. She was probably funnier than Caroline, brighter than Caroline, easier to manage than Caroline. What did she care?

If things had only stayed that way, if they could have only maintained the illusion of a platonic friendship, then perhaps they could all have simply moved past this troubling time. But things had not stayed that way.

The cold evening air bit at Caroline's cheeks and nose one night as she traveled back from visiting her mother and father for supper. It was so strange not to live with them anymore, but a woman's place was with her husband, even if that husband was nowhere in sight. Absentmindedly following the path near the tree line, Caroline almost didn't hear the breathy moan over the wind that swirled through the trees. But then it came again, louder, almost as if someone was crying out.

Caroline immediately dropped the basket of food her mother had given her, rushing to help whoever was trapped in the woods, no doubt being devoured by a vicious animal at that very moment. The sight that greeted her would be one seared into her memory for eternity.

Tatia was the one who was crying out, and she was indeed being devoured.

By Niklaus.

Strangely enough, the first thought that jumped into Caroline's head was that it was far too cold for this kind of thing. Tatia's skirts were rucked up around her waist, her bare legs vulnerable to the chilly wind. Never mind that the legs in question were wrapped tightly around Klaus' hips. Hips that were moving very urgently against Tatia's. She could not see all of Klaus' face, buried in his lover's neck as it was, but she could hear him gasping out Tatia's name between groans. Tatia herself let out another high pitched cry, and Caroline squeezed her eyes shut in mortification.

She should not be here.

How could she have thought...

How could Niklaus have just...

The next sound to break through the crisp winter air came from Caroline. It was such a pathetic and strangled sob, she barely recognized it as her own. The couple she'd interrupted must have heard it too because they broke apart and Klaus' head whipped around to catch sight of her. He dropped Tatia quickly, eyes widening as he realized that he'd been caught. And by whom.

"It's not polite to stare sweetling," Tatia's voice cut through their tense silence as she rearranged her skirts.

Caroline's gaze dropped to the forest floor, as if in apology. Realizing how ridiculous that was, she fixed her eyes back up to see Klaus fastening the ties of his pants and taking a few steps towards her.

"Caroline, what are you doing out-"

She didn't waste another second of time, rushing back to the path and leaving her basket where it landed. The food could rot for all she cared. Caroline just wanted to go home. And with that thought came a new wave of pain. Home was now Mikael's home, with her absent husband, who wasn't really a husband at all, and his monster of a brother. Silly girl. For believing for even one moment that what she'd foolishly mistaken for love was anything other than loneliness mixed with too much wine. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. How could she have been so naive? Whatever had been between them was nothing to him. She was nothing to him.

Bursting through the door, Caroline wiped at any stray tears and retreated to the bedroom she now shared with Bekah while Kol was away. But her sister was nowhere in sight, so Caroline wrapped herself up in furs and silently sobbed as she lay on a bed that was not her own. The torment would not end though. When she closed her eyes, all she could see was the two of them together. Klaus pressed up against Tatia, his lips on her neck, in a cruel replica of the exact position he'd had her in just weeks ago. The sobbing began anew.

After what was surely a great deal of time, she pulled the blankets back from her face to find her basket resting on the floor just inside the room.

A fresh wave of embarrassment washed over her. Klaus must have found it and picked it up, meaning he'd come into her room to return it. He'd likely found her crying into her pillow, after which he'd no doubt promptly left. More proof that she could not mean less to him. Now she could not even feign shock or disgust as her reason for running. Klaus would know exactly how much she was hurting over his affair with Tatia, and the thought nearly killed her.

That night she cried harder than she had since she was a little girl. All of the wishes she'd had for life and marriage and family seemed to be slipping surely from her grasp. The urge to simply run away and never look back was so strong.

Caroline wished she could just leave it all behind and start again. But there she went again, wishing. Silly girl.

* * *

><p>The paddock needed a new gate. And a new north post. And probably a new lock.<p>

In his rage last night, Klaus had kicked the bloody gate in and then torn it pieces. He'd spent the night out here in the cold, staring up at the nearly full moon and wondering why his skin felt hot and his muscles twitchy. If he'd been less angry with himself and with Caroline and with the madness of it all, he would have taken a moment to wonder about that. To wonder why he'd been able to tear apart such a strong wooden structure like it was child's plaything. After seeing the horses kick at the fences enough, he should have known it to be impossible.

But as always, his anger consumed him.

What had he been thinking, sneaking off with Tatia like that? At first he'd just enjoyed the break from the misery she provided. The girl had a pretty face and a pleasing laugh, and he'd almost been able to pretend that she was truly interested in him. Elijah be damned, Klaus was clearly the one she wanted. She sought him out nearly every day, and invited him to visit her every night. There was only so much a man could withstand after all. What was worse, he'd reveled in the way Caroline's face fell every time she saw them together. He'd taken the easy opportunity to make her feel the same seething jealousy and hatred that overtook him these days. To see the one you wanted belong to another. Let her have a taste of this burning discontent that coursed through his veins every damn day.

And, like a fool, Klaus had let himself be seduced. Then he'd seduced right back.

Is that what had led him here? Half shivering, half shaking with anger in the new morning light.

"You'll catch your death you know," a tinkling feminine voice sounded behind him.

For one brief, glorious moment, he thought Caroline had come to see him. Those hopes were dashed when he recognized Rebekah leaning over the broken paddock above him. "Go away, Bekah."

"But I brought you breakfast," she pouted and offered him a small bowl of porridge. Klaus sighed and grabbed the thing in an effort to get her to leave. "Caroline cried for hours last night," Rebekah continued. "What have you done to her, Niklaus?"

"I've done nothing." Rebekah merely shot him a doubtful look. "Must it be something I've done? Perhaps she's the one who wronged me, hmm?"

"Caroline has wronged you a thousand times this year alone, but she's never cried herself to sleep over it," his sister's voice was scolding and angry. "Did you two quarrel?"

Klaus laughed out loud at the suggestion. Quarreling would require them to exist in the same space for more than the ten seconds it took for her to look so utterly betrayed that it broke his heart. "No, we didn't quarrel."

"Well then, apologize for whatever insult you gave her and put this whole night behind you. It's unseemly for brothers and sisters to fight so horribly."

The nausea he felt every time someone referred to Caroline as his sister rolled through his stomach. How could he apologize for what he'd done when they'd both been studiously ignoring the root of the problem? Rather than confront Caroline about their brief moment of passion, Niklaus had chosen to take a page out of Kol's book and simply pretend it did not exist. The solution worked well enough until he caught sight of Caroline. Or thought of her. Or remembered the way she fit perfectly against him.

"It is more complex than that," Klaus tried to explain. He could not tell his little sister the awful sins he'd committed by coveting Caroline, but he still deeply desired her counsel.

She seemed to understand that and sat herself down beside him in silence, waiting to listen.

He took a deep breath. "I've done something I should not have, and I'm afraid I've made Caroline feel very... unimportant because of it. Maybe I intended to hurt her, maybe I did not. It doesn't matter now because she will hate me for what I've done. So will you. So will Elijah, now that I think on it," he hung his head between his hands. "How did I make such a mess?"

"Oh, Nik," Rebekah sighed impatiently, "This is what you do. You let you temper and your impulses get the best of you, and you do something awful. But we always forgive you. Caroline will too, I'm sure."

"You do not know what I've done," he mumbled pathetically.

"Only because you speak in riddles and vagaries," Rebekah bickered childishly.

It made him laugh though, and that was a refreshing change. He didn't think he'd laughed since that day on the hill with Caroline. Joking about his sketches and Rebekah's selfish feuding. "What is your advice then, sister? Jump into the icy lake as retribution for my wicked ways?"

"It is a thought," she joked. "Apologize, Nik. To Caroline and Elijah and whomever else you've caught up in this mistake of yours. Apologize and pray to the gods that forgiveness comes swiftly."

He supposed that was truly the only way to go about this. To clear the air with everyone caught up in his lies, and hope against hope that they would see past his awful behavior to the guilt inside. Tatia had been a mistake. One he needed to rectify if he did not wish to tear his family apart.

"When did you become such a good listener, Bekah?" he pulled his baby sister in for a hug.

"Probably around the time you started tearing this paddock apart," she looked around at the destruction. "How on earth did you manage this?"

Klaus shrugged, trying to remember tearing the fence apart through the haze of red he'd been seeing. His sister only laughed and pulled him up to his feet. Together they picked up the scraps of wood, salvaging what they could and tossing the rest. Klaus was just considering how long it would take him to rebuild on his own when he noticed Elijah leaving the house for the day. Realizing his brother was heading in the direction of Tatia's home, Klaus mustered up his courage.

"You might want to go inside, sister. This is one conversation you do not want to be part of."

* * *

><p>Upon waking, Caroline let herself doze in that perfect moment between awake and asleep where reality seemed dreamlike and dreams seemed like reality. In that moment, the previous night had never happened. She'd walked home from her parents cottage, enjoying the night air and the imminent arrival of snow, and arrived home in time to share a few of her mothers pastries with Rebekah. They'd chatted about Frederik and how long the betrothed couple would have to wait until spring was upon them and their union could take place. Then they'd braided each others hair and drifted off to sleep, content with the world and everyone in it.<p>

It was a nice fantasy, but one that faded soon enough.

Caroline could still feel the wetness of her tears against the pillow under her cheek - proof that they'd continued to stream from her eyes even as she slumbered. She could feel the tightness of her tear-stained skin and the terrible headache that came from crying oneself to sleep. No, last night had not been one of warmth and contentment. It had been all broken hearts and dashed dreams. Finally pulling herself out of bed, Caroline tried to go about her morning routine as best she could, rubbing a soothing balm under her eyes to hide the red puffiness left over. She completed her chores with haste, knowing the sooner she finished, the sooner she could run off to the some hidden place to avoid facing the world for a few precious hours.

As she was emptying the last feeding bucket into the pigs trough, she heard the barn door open, making her aware she had company. Caroline steeled herself, praying that it was Rebekah or even Henrik, come to play a trick on her. Large hands grabbed the other side of the bucket, helping her turn it over and empty its contents. The moment Caroline saw Klaus face, awash with hope and, yes, a bit of guilt, she dropped her hands from the bucket and stormed off towards the door.

"Caroline, please wait!" Klaus called out to her, while she did her best to ignore him. "I must talk with you about what you saw last night."

"I saw nothing," she denied, hoping he would just leave her be.

Instead, he grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her around to face him. "That's a lie, gremlin."

"Don't call me that!" Caroline couldn't help the tearful tone of her voice. "And do not," she ripped her arm away from him, "Touch. Me."

For one blissful moment, she thought Klaus would give up and she would be free to go about her day in her own very special brand of hell. Luck never seemed to be on her side these days though. Just as she made it to the door, Niklaus cut in front of her and pulled the thing closed, letting the wooden latch down and locking them in. So long as he was blocking the way, she could not brush past him like she so desperately wanted.

Taking a moment to look at him properly, Caroline noticed a deep gash on the left side of his face. It was still bleeding slightly and had only just started to swell, meaning he'd acquired it sometime in last few hours. A wave of concern sped through her, but she squashed it quickly. He did not deserve it.

"What is wrong with you, Niklaus?" she asked him hopelessly. "What is it you want from me?"

"Only to explain," he begged.

Caroline scoffed. "Explain? There's no need to explain anything to me, I'm a married woman remember? I understand perfectly what I saw. No explanation necessary."

She prayed he could not see through her bluff, and if his fuming was any indication, he saw through nothing. His fists clenched, and she thought she heard an almost animalistic growl rumble in his chest. Surprisingly, in his anger, she found her own. How dare he be angry at the thought of her laying with her husband! Forget the fact that the very idea made her ill, Klaus had no right or claim to her body or her heart. And after what she'd seen last night... his jealousy - if that was indeed what it was - was completely unfounded and inappropriate. Just like the rest of him. Caroline had finally let her rage get the best of her, and she relished it.

"What is your explanation, Nik?" she bit out the nickname with no trace of fondness from their childhood. "I admit, I'm eager to hear exactly what you have to say for yourself. What is so twisted within you that causes you to act this way? Jealousy? Malcontent? Insecurity? What causes a man to relentlessly pursue women who belong to his brothers? First me, now Tatia. Poor Henrik! Should he ever find himself a girl, she will be quickly swooped up and away from him-"

"Stop!" Klaus ordered, but once Caroline got started she became difficult to stop. If anyone knew that, it was him.

"Please, do tell me! What was the point of kissing me on my wedding night, Niklaus? What vicious game were you trying to play?"

She was practically screaming in his face now, and gods did it feel good. To yell and rage and accuse him of every vile thing under the sun. It felt wonderful and terrible, and Caroline could not decide whether she wanted to laugh or cry. She thought she might just do both.

"It was nothing like that, I swear to you! Please believe me, Caroline, I am begging," Klaus seemed truly desperate now. Every line of his faced showed true regret and guilt.

For a moment, Caroline nearly did believe him. She so desperately wanted to after all. Even the idea that there was an explanation for his actions other than the obvious; it was a compelling temptation. But then that awful image of Tatia's legs around his waist rose up in her mind again, and she pushed all sympathy away. "Why would I ever believe you?"

"Because I love you, dammit!" Klaus shouted.

The confession hung between them like a physical barrier. She could not move forward and he would not move back. The barn grew incredibly silent, and there was a strange ringing in Caroline's ears that she could not get rid of. Every particle of dust that floated in the air seemed to be standing completely still as they both registered what had just been said.

"That... I did not mean to say that," Klaus finally spoke after what seemed like decades.

Hearing him take back the words hurt almost as much as seeing him with another woman had. "Of course you didn't," she just shook her head and made to push him out of the way, but he stopped her again.

"I only meant that I wanted to be sure of my feelings before I screamed them at you," Klaus tried to explain, laughing a little. When she did not laugh back, he settled for holding her in place. "Tatia meant nothing to me."

"Then you should not have had her as you did!" Caroline screamed, "Is that what you do with girls who mean nothing to you? Pretend to love them and then toss them aside?"

"No," Klaus nearly shouted. "Would you just listen! She was a distraction and a mistake. One that I never intended to make, but she offered herself of her own free will. I did not seduce her. In fact it was quite the other way around."

Caroline stopped short with whatever insult she had been ready to hurl next. That was certainly news. Hearing that Klaus had not pursued another woman, however ridiculous, made her feel infinitesimally better. Tatia had always been too flirtatious for Caroline's liking. It did not excuse Klaus' behavior... but it did grant him a few more moments of her time.

"Go on," she prompted, and a tired but grateful smile broke across Klaus' face.

"I've already confessed my betrayal to Elijah. He was less than pleased to hear it, but I could not keep Tatia's secrets any longer," Klaus' eyes drew downwards in guilt. Caroline noticed again the gash over his left brow, and she realized that he and Elijah must have come to blows over Tatia. "I regret my time with her, truly. I must have been out of my mind, but I just... I thought maybe she could help me forget. Forget that I wanted you. Forget that you would never want me. I took my anger and frustration out on everyone who never deserved it, and I'm sorry for it. I'm sorry, Caroline."

A very large lump had lodged in her throat, the product of the tears pooling in her eyes no doubt, and Caroline found it hard to breath, let alone speak.

"You want me, or you love me?" she finally asked.

"What?" Klaus drew his brows together in confusion.

"Want or love, Nik? There is a difference."

Neither answer was something she was prepared for, if she was completely honest. Hearing Klaus tell her that he wanted her lit some spark inside her that threatened to grow into a blazing fire. The one that had been ignited after their first kiss and then properly snuffed out the night before. It was delicious and divine, but 'want' was somehow not at all what she wanted to hear. On the other hand, to hear Klaus tell her he loved her was terrifying. What even was love? For all the weddings and vows and flowery poetry tucked underneath her pillow, Caroline had no idea what love really meant. At sixteen-years-old there was supposed to be time to figure all of it out. A lifetime.

As Klaus opened his mouth to probably break her heart, she reached up and put a finger to his lips. "Don't tell me. I'm not sure I want the answer after all."

He looked disappointed but nodded and stayed silent. Caroline had the feeling that to earn her forgiveness, Klaus would do just about anything right now. The mischievous part of her considered all the delightful ways she could take advantage of that. Chores and ribbons and games that he hated all coming to forefront of her mind. Thoughts of playful torture filling her head, Caroline did not notice that he'd taken her hand in his and twisted it around so that back of it was now brushing his lips. Their eyes locked together as he pressed small kisses to each knuckle, then to her palm, then her wrist. The dizziness she'd felt at his urgent kisses after her wedding was nothing compared to what she felt now. This was consuming. This was heady and wonderful, and a sensation she never wanted to end.

"Kol," she breathed his brother's name, hoping it would put a stop to this madness. It had no such effect.

"You don't love him," Klaus pulled her closer.

"I don't love you," she countered.

Both of their breaths caught as he leaned closer, so his nose brushed along hers. "That's a lie, gremlin."

Their third kiss was chaste, and sweet, and everything their first two should have been. There was no wine or rushing blood to cloud either of their senses. There was only the gentle brush of his lips against hers, and the soft feeling of his fingers gently tracing up and down her arms, then across her cheeks and into her hair. She reached up to cup his face, delighting in the fresh stubble she found there. Klaus smiled into the kiss, and she smiled right back. His betrayal with Tatia still burned bright in her mind, keeping her kisses restrained and her smiles a bit pained. It helped to know that there were no feelings between the two, but it did not erase what had happened. Still, they stayed that way for a long while, kissing and touching and smiling until they heard Esther call for her, and he had to let her leave for fear of being discovered. She leaned in for one last kiss before fleeing back the house, unable to keep the grin off of her face.

It was dangerous to let this go on, Caroline knew. But Klaus had made her happy in a time when almost nothing else could. Surely something that gave them both such joy could not be so terribly wrong?

The lie sounded weak even in her own head.

* * *

><p><strong>Holy hell, that was a lot of stuff. Sorry about that folks, sometimes the devil is in the details, not the dialogue. I hope no one is took angry with how small Tatia's part was in this story. She'll obviously be back - we've got a vampires to make after all - but that's about all she wrote on the KlausTatia/Elijah love triangle.**


	4. 1016 AD - Part 4

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything TO or TVD related belongs to the CW

_**A/N: So we finally get to the sexy parts in this chapter. Unfortunately, virginity sex scenes always come out a mix between totally awkward and the most cliched romance novel you've ever seen. Sorry about it. More notes on that at the end. _**A little bit of Olicity snuck into this chapter too, if you can pick it out haha.**_  
><strong>_

_**I also decided to give a little sneak peek at the Mystic Falls timeline, just to give everyone an idea of how tragically wrong this relationship will go eventually. Because I suck like that.  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>2011 A.D - Part 1<strong>

* * *

><p>Stefan Salvatore couldn't think of a worse way to spend an evening than stuck at the dinner party from hell.<p>

Well, there was that one night Elijah ended up daggered to a chair, but he'd only had to hear about that through Damon's second hand accounts. Seeing as Elijah was happily undaggered and sitting across the table from him now, he supposed all was forgiven. If it wasn't, he and his brother weren't making it out of this house alive.

Elijah decided to break the tense silence of forks scraping against plates.

"Stefan, where is the lovely Elena tonight?"

And the awkwardness continued.

Stefan looked down at his food, holding back a scowl. "I don't know. Ask Damon.

Elijah looked between him and his brother, confused and a bit apologetic. He knew he'd stepped on someone's toes with the question, he just wasn't sure whose. Story of their lives. Klaus guffawed silently in his chair, enjoying the mix up a little too much. Elijah turned towards him strangely, as if to ask what was so damn funny.

"I'm sorry, you've missed so much," Klaus chuckled softly. "Uhm, trouble in paradise."

"One more word about Elena, and this dinner is over," Stefan warned.

They'd come here to negotiate for coffins and hybrids, not reminisce over his failed relationship and the outcomes of that failure. Stefan could see Klaus was itching to make another comment, but thankfully Damon cut him off, "You know what, probably best just to keep Elena in the 'do not discuss' pile."

"You're probably right," Klaus agreed. For a moment, Stefan actually believed he would let it drop. Like an idiot. "It's just," Klaus went on, determined to have his fun, "The allure of the Petrova doppelganger, still so strong. What do you say, brother? Should we tell them about Tatia?"

"Now why should we discuss matters long since resolved?" Elijah tried to usher the conversation back towards its intended goal.

Klaus smirked, taking a sip of his wine before continuing. "Well, given their shared affection for both Elena and Katerina, I think our guests might be curious to learn about the originator of the Petrova line."

"The Original doppelganger," Stefan guessed, his interest piqued. "The one used to bind your hybrid curse?"

"The very one," Klaus confirmed. "The Petrova women do tend to have a way of coming between brothers, don't they, Elijah?"

Stefan picked up a hint of bitterness in Elijah's expression, and the story became pretty clear. Klaus' lack of tact on the subject made it obvious that his feelings for the girl were long since dead, but Elijah's... not so much. He didn't seem to be one to let go of love so easily, if his odd dynamic with Katherine was anything to go by. From his expression now, it appeared that no matter how many years had passed, there was still a drop of affection for this Tatia woman in the noblest Original's past. Perhaps it was Klaus' teasing that set Elijah off, or perhaps he was still testy over his recent daggering. Whatever the reason, Elijah would not be led in the direction Klaus wanted.

"Oh, I don't know, Niklaus," he raised his eyes to meet Klaus' slowly, "If we're on the topic of a woman caught between brothers, I'd say there's another who fits that description a bit more aptly. Wouldn't you say?"

Klaus glared as if Elijah had just stuck a dinner knife through his chest. Scowls and threats flew silently between the Original brothers, and Stefan watched it all happen in seconds. This kind of communication only existed between siblings. The obvious warnings and conversations made up of only small, wordless gestures. He and Damon had mastered the art in their meager century and half, he couldn't imagine how deeply the ability developed after a thousand years together.

"I'm lost again," Damon cut it, ignoring the murderous air surrounding the two of them. "We still talking about Tatia?"

Elijah opened his mouth to answer, but Klaus shook his head infinitesimally, a warning to Elijah that he had stepped too far.

Rather than cross that line, Elijah reined himself in. "A tale for another time, apparently."

"Well then," Stefan refocused, "Why don't we move this evening along and discuss terms."

The next twenty minutes were spent in uncomfortable negotiations. First Stefan put his offer on the table. The coffin in exchange for the mass exodus of all hybrids and Originals from Mystic Falls. Seeing as Klaus needed Elena's blood for his warped wolf family, that idea never made it past stage one. Next, Klaus mandated that Damon and Stefan leave Elena's life entirely in his hands after returning the coffin, trusting him to ensure a long and happy life for her. Damon quickly shot down that idea. He clearly saw his romance with Elena reaching a tipping point in the near future and was reluctant to lose that advantage. Selfish bastard.

Stefan was tired of talking. That humanity switch of his that liked to toggle on and off these days was telling him to just screw Klaus and dump the locked box in the ocean. Drop the pretenses and demand what he wanted. See how Klaus liked that.

The idea got his hand set on fire and his shoulder dislocated.

"Now, bring me my coffin before I burn him alive," Klaus ordered as he held Stefan's hand over the roaring flames.

"I'll get it," Damon snapped. He never did like to see his baby brother in pain.

Klaus pulled him back, still keeping him on his knees and turned to Elijah. "Go with him brother. You keep him honest. And when you return, I will make good on my promise to you, and I will hand over our family."

The seconds passed slowly as they waited for Damon to return with the final coffin. Stefan seethed on the floor most of the time, grinding his teeth and clutching his burned hand. He had been so close. So close! He hadn't even wanted to come to this dinner. He'd known his only leverage against Klaus had been that coffin, and bringing Damon into the mix - with all of his emotions and weakness - had just lost this battle for him. Who knows where they would go from here? Without this final bargaining chip, there was nothing keeping Klaus from grabbing Elena and bolting. If by some miracle he chose to leave them alive, they'd never be able to track him down. They'd had an impossible time finding the Original when he'd been gunning for them. When he was actively trying to evade them? There was no chance. Elena would be gone, and Stefan cared. He cared. Dammit.

"Go ahead and kill me, I know you'll do it when he brings the coffin," Stefan growled.

"You really have given up, haven't you?" Klaus looked down at him with pity. "Where's the fight? Where's the ripper?"

Before he could answer, he saw Elijah and Damon reenter the room from the corner of his eye. That didn't make sense... Even if they'd gone as fast as they could both ways, it would have taken them at least an hour to get that coffin out of the caves. More, considering there were currently two Bennett witches guarding it. What was Damon up to?

"Elijah... " Klaus looked more confused than ever. "Why haven't you left?"

"Where are your manners, brother?" Elijah smirked vindictively. "We forgot dessert."

He whipped the cloth away from the covered tray displayed next to him, revealing three silver daggers that were decidedly _not _stuck in Original bodies.

For the first time since Mikael had been killed, Stefan saw Klaus' face filled with fear. "What have you done?"

"I've learned not to trust your vulgar promises, Klaus. We're doing this on my terms now."

Elijah turned to his right and Stefan watched a man who looked very similar to the eldest Original enter the room. If the period clothes and the red stain above his heart were any indication, this was one of Klaus' long lost brothers.

"Kol," Klaus backed away from him, hands up in defense.

The younger Original only prowled forward, ready to pounce. "Long time, brother."

From Elijah's other side, a second brother sped out of nowhere, grabbing Klaus by the arm. This one was wearing fabric that looked to Stefan like it belonged in a museum, so worn and tattered it was. How old were these people anyway?

"Finn, don't-" The warning went unheard as Finn used one of the daggers to impale Klaus' hand. The hybrid screamed in pain, but retained that fearful look on his face.

"Original family smackdown," Damon whispered from beside him. "How rude would it be to place bets?"

Stefan would have chuckled if the situation had been even the tiniest bit funny. This house was about to turn into a war zone and they were stuck right in the middle of it. With a lot of wooden furniture nearby that could quickly turn lethal for them. Stefan inched his way back, trying to put as much distance between himself and the battle of immortals taking place in front of him. But his path was suddenly blocked.

Rebekah had joined the fray from behind Elijah, twirling another dagger between her fingers. "I hope you don't mind, Nik. With all the others finally awake, I thought it would be rude not to make this family reunion complete."

She smiled viciously down at her brother, as Kol restrained him by pinning his hands behind his back. Stefan watched whatever color was left in Klaus' face drain out of it as his eyes flitted between the three daggers on the tray, the one in Rebekah's hands, and the one currently lodged in his palm. Stefan did the math too. Five daggers, where there should only be four. Elijah, Finn, Kol, Rebekah… one coffin left.

A blur of blonde hair and black sequins rushed past him.

The dagger that had previously rested in Rebekah hands now sat squarely in Klaus' heart, held in place by a girl Stefan had never seen before. Another sister?

Her hair was pinned up and curled into a bob, the style of the girls in the 20s who hadn't wanted to crop their hair short but still hoped to achieve the look of the day. If that hadn't been clue enough, the rest of her getup would have revealed exactly when she'd been put down. Fitting snug around her hips and flaring out to the knees, the sequined flapper dress practically screamed prohibition. Apparently Rebekah hadn't been the only one to take a nap during Stefan's ripper decade.

"Nicely done, love," Kol remarked, leaning over Klaus shoulder to see her handiwork, but the words seemed not to reach her.

The girl's rage was palpable as she wrenched a temporarily weakened Klaus from Kol's grip and slammed him up against the nearest wall. "How dare you!" she screamed in his face. "You lying, manipulative _monster_!"

"Ooh, my money's on that one," Damon joked, watching Klaus inhale sharply as the dagger's magic tried and failed to take effect.

Elijah stepped in then, eager to add to Klaus' misery. "Stefan. Damon. May I introduce my sister, Caroline. Niklaus' wife."

That news hit them both like a ton of bricks. Just when you thought Original family dynamics couldn't get any more twisted. Klaus was married? The guy who had terrorized them for the past year - who had slaughtered and pillaged and otherwise torn his way through their lives like a bulldozer - had actually managed to at some point in his miserable life woo a woman into marrying him? The idea was beyond absurd, but there it was. That word rang in their ears plain as day. Wife.

"Technically," Kol interjected, "She's _my_ wife."

Caroline shoved herself off of Klaus, letting him groan as he pulled the dagger out of his own heart. She rounded on her brother, "That joke wasn't funny nine hundred years ago Kol, it's not funny now."

"Well," Rebekah smiled jovially down at her, "It was a thousand years really, if we're being nit-picky about it."

She whipped around to face her husband again, "You left me daggered for a century?!" she shrieked angrily.

Klaus tossed the dagger aside, no longer afraid as much as annoyed. "Ninety years, actually," he picked grumpily at the new hole in his shirt. Seeming to understand that some soothing was in order, Klaus tried to calm her by brushing a hand across her cheek, "It was for the best, gremlin, you know it was."

A sharp slap echoed around the room. Caroline looked very much like she wanted to hit him again as she hissed, "Drop dead, Nik."

As entertaining as this was to watch, Stefan did not forget that they were standing on an Original powder keg that was just waiting to go off. Gently nudging Damon, he jerked his head towards the door, signaling it was time to leave. His brother seemed reluctant to miss the show, but even Damon realized that this mansion was not the place to be tonight. Together they headed for the door, but Klaus' voice called out to stop them.

"We're not finished, Stefan-"

"You're free to go," Elijah cut him off. "This is family business."

* * *

><p><strong>1016 A.D - Part 4<strong>

* * *

><p>"You're doing it wrong," Caroline sang teasingly, her eyes never leaving the sewing needle in front of her.<p>

"I am not," Klaus denied.

"Are too."

"You are not even looking, how could you know?"

Caroline set down the dress she was embroidering, finally looking at the strands of thread woven between Klaus' fingers. "I can practically hear the strings getting tangled, I told you to make sure the ends are kept apart."

"Caroline," Klaus growled, twisting his body so she could not long see his work, "You pay attention to your work, I'll pay attention to mine. Never you mind what is tangled or not."

"I'm only trying to keep you from having to start over."

"No, you're being a task master, and it is annoying."

"Fine," she shrugged and picked up the needle and dress again, focusing back on the fabric.

"Fine," Klaus agreed too.

As expected, a few minutes later she heard the telltale signs of frustration coming from her left. Klaus' fingers were caught in the intricate mess, and the bracelet he'd been painstakingly weaving together for the past hour was coming unraveled. Caroline wisely kept her lips pressed together even though the urge to say _I told you so_ was nearly bubbling over. With a loud curse, Klaus finally lost his patience and threw the tangled heap away from him. It smacked against the cave wall and landed in the dirt some distance away, probably ruined now.

"Well that was productive," she shook her head at his tantrum. For all the extra years he had on her, Niklaus still acted like he was the child and she the adult sometimes. "Now you'll have no gift to give Rebekah, and she will never speak to you again. So very tragic."

Klaus sighed at her tone, but he quickly forgot his previous anger as he scooted nearer to her, tracing his fingers over her braided hair. "Let us work on these gifts some other day, then. We still have plenty of time before evening meal needs to be prepared. I am sure there are more pleasant ways to spend the afternoon…"

Caroline's breath caught as he moved her braid out of his way to ghost his lips over her neck. "Her name day is less than a week away, Nik," she could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears as it picked up at his ministrations. "If you do not make progress now, you will never finish in time."

"Surely I will," Klaus hand traveled down to the edge of her dress, drawing it slowly up. "I have an excellent tutor after all."

Fire raced across every inch of her skin, especially those where his lips and hands were at work. She could swear she was burning brighter than the torch that lit their little cave retreat, so hot she became at his touch. When he snuck his hand up to trace the inside of her thigh, Caroline lost all hope of concentration and dropped the half finished embroidery, choosing instead to weave her fingers through Klaus' hair. She tugged on the small braid which tied his long locks away from his face, dislodging him from her neck. He pouted up at her, but Caroline took the opportunity to attack those pouted lips with her own.

They had been like this for some time now, hungry for each other at every opportunity.

Months had flown by like hours for Caroline, a welcome change from the days that used to drag with her misery and loneliness. Chores were sped through, not to allow her time to shut herself away, but instead to run off with Klaus. They were careful never to be caught, changing their rendezvous locations sporadically and never arriving or leaving at the same time. But there had been near misses to be sure. It was difficult to be vigilant when every fiber of your being longed to be with the person who was forbidden to you.

There was a wonderful wickedness to their affair, Caroline admitted to herself, but it was tempered by the axe that hung surely over both their heads. They were in stasis here, with Kol and Mikael away, and her marriage still hanging in no man's land. They were living on borrowed time, as the end date for the trading party's trip grew nearer and nearer. Kol would return soon, and she had not broached the subject of what they would do when that happened. Would they continue this affair? It seems somehow more distasteful to sneak around under Kol's nose than when he was miles and miles away. More dishonest. And when he returned, he and Caroline would have to live as husband and wife eventually… with all that it entailed. That is what they had promised each other.

She'd confessed to Klaus shortly after his apology in the barn that the marriage had never been consummated. That she and Kol had lived as brother and sister for the few days they shared a bed before he left. Klaus had been surprised, to be sure, but he had not judged or inquired too much, which she was thankful for.

It did leave them in the awkward position of wanting each other desperately, but being too tentative to take such a big step together. Laying with a man who was not her husband, giving herself away while she was married to another… it did not sit well with Caroline, no matter how much her body urged her to do so. Moreover, it had taken time - much time - for Caroline to allow Klaus to touch her in any way after seeing him touch Tatia so boldly. The image remained burned into her mind long after she'd tried to forget it, and it was a long time before she and Klaus had become even the slightest bit intimate.

But intimate they became.

Caroline confessed she had no idea where Klaus had learned the ways of a woman's body - and she never wished to know. The first time he'd stuck his hand under her skirt and made her see stars, she thought perhaps she was dying. The shaking and shouting of it all had blown her away and left her feeling weak and confused. But she'd made him do it again two more times after, and then demanded he show her how to do the same for him. From there, their afternoons were spent exploring each other. Learning how a brush of the fingers or a stroke of the tongue could incite the wildest kind of passion. a few weeks earlier, they'd spent _her_ entire name day curled up in this very cave, sharing a stolen meal and stolen touches. They reveled in their passion, and they reveled in each other.

Even now, Caroline could feel Klaus' hand trailing up and up and up, seeking out the wetness that had started to pool between her legs.

With a firm grip, she stopped his hand's wandering and tugged his head away from her lips. "We do not have _that _much time, Nik."

"Caroline," he whined and tried again, leaning forward to nip at her lips.

"No," she turned her cheek to avoid his embrace. "You have a bracelet to finish, and I have a meal to prepare." At his surly frown, she leaned forward to give him one more lingering kiss. "I shall see you at supper, and if you come back with a finished bracelet, perhaps you will win yourself a reward."

Her promise earned her a lascivious smile, and she knew she'd motivated him properly.

Caroline returned to the cottage to find Esther and Bekah in deep conversation about the date of her wedding ceremony. Esther claimed it was still too soon, nearly the dead of winter, but Rebekah persisted that it felt warm enough for her. She laughed at the common argument, joining them to chop vegetables and partake in village gossip. She studiously did not react when Klaus entered, and he likewise avoided her gaze entirely.

Like every other night, the family sat down to dinner and went through a sort of routine. Finn stayed quiet and reserved, Elijah told Esther about his continued courtship of Tatia, much to Caroline's dismay, Klaus and Rebekah squabbled and joked, and Henrik took it all in with the contentment of a youngest child. They were a family, and however dysfunctional, they were hers.

"I received word from your father today," Esther announced to her children as they were clearing the meal. "We should expect our travelers back any day now, thank the gods. I was starting to worry they'd been delayed by last week's storm."

Caroline froze in place. She barely heard Elijah's acknowledgement of the news or Rebekah's exclamation of delight. Her eyes met Klaus' over the top of the table, and she found him to be just as tense as her. Grinding her teeth, she forced a smile onto her face, the perfect picture of a joyous wife looking forward to seeing her long estranged husband. Klaus, however, was not so subtle. Dropping his plate back on the table, he rudely excused himself before walking outside, knocking over a chair on his way out. Caroline swallowed sharply. They had never spoken of the issue, and now it was upon them faster than anticipated. Their stasis was over.

"Don't mind him," Rebekah whispered in her ear. "He's only upset that father will be returning soon. The past months have been a wonderful reprieve for him. Truly, I have never seen him so happy. Still, don't let his sour mood ruin your fun. Kol will be back, and the two of you can finally start your lives together. Who knows, perhaps you will even have your own home soon," her sister looked sneakily down at her stomach and then back up.

A completely fake smile cracked onto her face, and Caroline hoped Rebekah could not see through it.

Married life. With Kol. The prospect had been tucked safely away in a dark corner of her mind for so long, it almost seemed unfair that it would rear its ugly head again. She'd nearly convinced herself that it wasn't true after all. That somehow she and Klaus could stay this way always.

She spent the remainder of her evening cleaning up the meal and keeping herself busy by any means. But when Esther retired for the night and Niklaus had still not returned, she began to grow anxious. He tended to act unwisely when emotion got the best of him, and it would not do to have a mess to clean up when Mikael arrived home. Spinning a quick lie to Rebekah, Caroline scurried off to find Klaus, hoping he hadn't gone too far.

She was rewarded for her optimism when she realized there was a light coming from inside the barn. Pushing the door open, she found him in front of the last stall, stroking the neck of her favorite mare with a long brush.

"Do you remember when I taught you this?" Klaus asked, somehow sensing her presence.

"I do," Caroline responded. She came in close, standing next to him and placing a hand against his back.

"I wonder if I was in love with you even then?" he mused aloud, shocking her.

From all those weeks ago in the barn up until now, they had never spoken of love. His first declaration had also been his last, and she had steadfastly ignored the feelings growing between them for this very reason. Love meant pain and betrayal and heartache. Where she had once longed for a love that overtook her and made her giddy, now she shunned the idea with all her might. To love Niklaus was to ruin him. And to ruin herself.

"Don't," she begged, but he would not be stopped.

"I've known it was true since the moment I first said it," Klaus turned and dropped the brush, grabbing her hands and placing them on his chest. "You said you did not want to hear, and I respected that. But now… I will not stay silent."

Caroline tried her best to push him away, "Please, Niklaus..."

"I would fight my father and my brother and this whole damned village if you asked me to," he declared, "But _do not_ ask me to say I don't love you, Caroline."

She could barely see his face anymore through the tears in her eyes, and so she let them fall. One by one they streamed down, tears of joy and misery and love all flowing together. Her heart beat fiercely in her chest, almost as if it were about to crack in half at the pressure. The only thing that eased it seemed to be touching him, so she shifted her hands up to Klaus' face and pulled him in for a kiss.

The meeting of their mouths was desperate, mostly teeth and tongue and sometimes lips that didn't quite connect, but the passion was there to make up for it.

In between brushes of their lips, she whispered to him fervently, "I love you." Her declaration sounded broken and sad, but so painfully true. "I love you so much. I love you."

As if a dam had broken, Caroline could not say the words enough. She gasped them, pleaded them, cried them. Klaus' kisses became uncontrollable after that, and he finally picked her up so her legs were locked firmly around him. So there was not an inch of space between his body and hers. The world shifted, and she realized that he had deposited her so she was laying on a pile of blankets in an empty stall. They smelled like horses and hay, but somehow that was perfect. She loved horses and she loved Niklaus and she loved that he was slowly peeling her dress off of her, with more intention than he'd ever done before.

He was gentle, astoundingly so for the passion she saw lurking behind his eyes. Their kisses stopped, and Klaus took the time to enjoy the bare sight of her, after he'd rid her of all her layers. Despite the warm blankets around her, the barn air was cold, and Caroline could feel her nipples pebbling as the chill greeted them. Klaus' eyes fixed on her bare breasts for a moment, before he leaned down and took one in his hot mouth. She could not help the small cry that escaped her at so much warmth and wetness encasing her sensitive skin.

The clenching she felt between her legs was a familiar one, but it was more powerful now, knowing they would not be stopping themselves this time.

Caroline pulled at Klaus' tunic, wrenched at his belt. She wanted his bare skin against hers, heating her up and filling this _need_ she had growing inside of her. Her lover complied, pulling off his clothes, while somehow keeping his hands or lips on her at all times. Klaus was as starved for her as she was for him, and neither of them could break for very long before the passion swept them away again.

When they were both finally naked, she became slightly nervous. She did not know how this was supposed to go, and the fact that he did was not something that reassured her. Lovemaking was a concept almost completely foreign to her, and Caroline blushed at the possibility that she would somehow do or say something wrong. She could not imagine Niklaus laughing at her over any misstep, but bizarrely the fear was still there. Klaus must have sensed her nerves because he stopped their urgency for a beat, leaning down to brush a lock of blonde hair off her forehead. The look of awe and wonder on his face as he stared into her eyes put to rest most of the dark thoughts. Caroline kissed him softly, thanking him for the gesture of love. She braced herself for pain - she had been assured by _many _before her wedding that there would be pain - but it never came. Instead, she felt the familiar jolt of pleasure and his fingers slipped between her legs and through the wetness there.

"Ah," she sighed at the lovely heat and clenching inside of her.

"I love you, Caroline," Klaus whispered hotly in her ear, as his fingers picked up their pace. "I want nothing more than to give you pleasure. To hear you begging for me, and to feel you gripping me inside of you."

His wanton words only spurred her pleasure on, and she mewled against the skin of his neck as he twisted his fingers in just the perfect way. Klaus was giving her the gift of pleasure, she realized, before the pain stole it from her. She pulled him closer to her as she neared her end, wondering what on earth she'd done to receive a man so tender. When he pressed his thumb against just the right place, her legs began to shake and her hips worked furiously against him. She called out his name as she flew apart, moaning and shuddering as the waves of pleasure rolled through her.

When she finally caught her breath, it was only so she could beg him, "Niklaus," she leaned back against the blankets to look him in the eye. "Be with me."

Klaus nodded furiously, as if he'd been desperately holding back, and those words had set him free.

There was a moment of shuffling where he reached between them to stroke himself a few times, making himself ready for her, before the hot tip of him was pressed to her. As he slide slowly inside, she watched his jaw clench and unclench, and she got the impression that he was practicing quite a bit of self-control to keep from simply driving into her. It was nothing like Caroline expected it to feel, the length of him entering her, but it was not unwelcome. Until it was.

She let out a great gust of air, just shy of a yelp, as she felt an unbelievable stretching sensation that was so terribly painful she wasn't sure she could stand it. He was so big and she felt so small, and how on earth did people do this for enjoyment? Caroline clenched her teeth together, desperate not to cry out in pain, knowing how panicked Niklaus would be if he knew he'd hurt her. As he sunk all the way in, there was a moment where she stopped breathing, and that was what betrayed her. Niklaus leaned back, his face full of questions, and the shifting sent another lance of pain shooting right through her. She winced hard.

"Caroline, love? What's wrong?" Klaus' worried voice broke through the haze.

"Nothing," she bit out. A quick peek through her squeezed shut eyes told her he didn't believe that for one second. Gritting her teeth, she came clean, "More pain than I thought is all."

For a horrible moment, her lover remained the picture of confusion. But then realization seemed to come over him and he nodded in understanding, though his brows stayed drawn together and his lips turned down in worry. Somehow, he knew to stay still as her body battled with the stretching that flitted between pain and not pain, but refused to turn to pleasure. Kisses were peppered along her face, neck, and shoulders. An apology for the unavoidable, which she appreciated in the interim. After a much longer time than she would have like, the pain receded to a distant twinging, not pleasurable but not terrible either. She lifted his face from hers and bit her lip before nodding.

Klaus moved slowly, careful to pay attention to any sign that she was not comfortable, but thankfully the pain stayed away for the most part. He glided easily in and out of her, the product of how ready she'd been before they'd started. She paid attention to the way his throat worked up and down as he swallowed and gasped above her. The puffing air of their strained breaths blew against each other, and it all felt a bit ridiculous at first. Clumsiness and inexperience took over as an elbow bumped against a rib, or a knee lodged itself strangely. Just when she feared they'd never find their rhythm, Klaus changed his angle and she felt that elusive flash of need flutter inside of her. She clenched involuntarily, which naturally drove Klaus mad. His thrusts picked up and he breathed heavier for the exertion.

The roaring bliss of completion never found her again, but she did not mind so much. There was a different kind pleasure to be found than that building pressure between her legs. It was in the brush of his bare chest against hers, or the rhythm of their shared breathing and rocking bodies. Caroline had honestly never felt so connected to another person in her life, as if they were one body and one mind. She found his eyes again, staring down at her, and she was shocked at how utterly wrecked he looked. Excitement and wonder and vulnerability, all rolled up in one picture perfect moment. This was love. Being so open and laid bare for another, close in a way that could not be described. She lifted one hand to his cheek, and as if he understood perfectly, he turned and kissed her open palm sweetly.

Sweetness could not last long though, and Klaus dropped his head to rest against her collarbone as he worked his hips furiously against hers. She rocked herself against him, loving how a small change in her pace could cause a desperate gasp to escape her lover. Caroline wrapped her legs tighter around him as she felt him growing close to his end. A soft bite to his shoulder pushed him over the edge, and incoherent sounds of ecstasy flew from his mouth, as he lost all control. Wetness splashed inside of her and she was embarrassed at how deliciously wonderful it felt. To be filled up with him.

After his body stilled above hers, Klaus hovered for a moment before gently laying himself down on top of her. It seemed as if all the energy had flooded out of him, and now he was incapable of even holding himself up. Caroline smiled, running her hands up and down his back and realizing that he was the one shaking now. Nuzzling into him seemed to help, so she ran her hand through his hair and whispered nonsense to him, making sure to drop in a few _I love you's_ just because she could.

Finally sliding off of her, Klaus tugged at the blankets to cover them both from the chill. "Are you... I mean- was this..." he seemed unsure how to inquire about what had just happened, which she found endearing.

"I am fine," she smiled, laying her head on his chest. "And it was perfect."

That seemed to satisfy him, and they stayed like that for some time. His fingers interlocked with hers and her cheek pressed to shoulder. Tangled up together in the blankets, hiding away from the outside world and everyone that existed beyond their perfect moment of happiness. But perfect moments do not last, and theirs was interrupted by the sound of the barn door opening as a horse was led inside.

Both of them promptly panicked.

As quickly and quietly as they could, they pulled on clothes, tied belts, and yanked on boots, but they were not fast enough. Caroline was still half out of her dress, and Klaus still bare from the waist up when the gate to their stall was opened.

Kol stood on the other side, two horses behind him, and his mouth hanging open.

"Kol," Caroline hurried to shove her arm through her sleeve, getting the dress on right finally. "You're back. We did not expect you for another few days."

"We... rode hard to beat the full moon," Kol said slowly, seemingly dumbfounded by what he had just stumbled on. His eyes flitted between the two of them, then down to the blankets that were still in disarray on the floor. He seemed confused beyond reason and shook his head to clear it of whatever thoughts were spinning there. "I need to put the horses away. Father is waiting inside."

The mention of Mikael had all three of them tense and alert.

"Right," Klaus finally spoke while making a move towards the horses, "I'll help-"

"No," Kol held up a hand, cutting his brother off, and essentially keep him at arm's length. "Get dressed and get inside. I'll finish this. You too, Caroline."

Knowing a dismissal when she heard one, Caroline shot one last look at a half-clothed Klaus before running back to the house. She threw herself into bed, careful not to wake Rebekah, and spent the next several hours wide eyed and frightened, wondering if she'd just ruined three lives in one night. By the time dawned peeked through the window, she was no closer to an answer, but she feared they were all close to the confrontation that had been building for months.

* * *

><p>Klaus had likewise gotten no sleep on a night that should have been one of the best of his life.<p>

His mind went back and forth between reliving those glorious moments when Caroline had opened herself to him completely, giving him every bit of her body while taking the same in return, and then back to the fear over what was surely to come next. The joy he should have felt at finally hearing Caroline's feelings declared in exchange for his own was tempered by terror over what Kol would do with his discovery.

It was true enough the Kol never wanted his marriage to Caroline. They were comrades, playmates, and friends, but not lovers. Never that.

However, it was well known that Kol shared Klaus impulsive nature, and sometimes his temper. If his younger brother saw this as a slight and took the opportunity to condemn Caroline for it. Mikael might kill Klaus, but the entire village would shun Caroline. She would be turned out, sent to wander the woods. The full moon was tomorrow night. She would be slaughtered.

The thought made him physically ill.

Decision made, Niklaus rose from his bed late that morning, prepared to confront his brother over what had transpired the night before. He would ensure Kol's silence, and they would all come to an arrangement. Somehow.

Just as he was heading for the door, Klaus ran headlong into the brother in question as he entered. Kol jumped back from him as if burned. They stood in the entryway of the home, feet rooted to the ground and a tense silence filling the air. There was too much to be said, and yet neither one seemed to want to speak. Perhaps the gods had heard their silent pleas for a savior because they were indeed saved from saying anything as as third person entered the room through the back door. Caroline. The gods did have a strange sense of humor sometimes.

The three of them formed a rather lopsided triangle, with the two brothers shoulder to shoulder by the door and Caroline off on the other end.

"Shall we all draw swords and do battle?" Kol joked, breaking the strained atmosphere.

Caroline laughed softly, but approached slowly. "Please et me explain myself, Kol."

"You have nothing to explain, Caroline," Kol waved her off. "It is Nik who needs to tell me what happened while I was away. Or was this happening before?"

"No!"-"Absolutely not!" they both exclaimed.

"Then what on earth possessed you to seduce a married woman, Niklaus? My wife!" Kol seemed to be working himself up, not even seeming to know why.

The shock and betrayal was all bubbling to the surface, and Klaus could see that his brother was in fact hurt. Not in the way a man is hurt by the woman he loves, but in the way a boy is hurt when he is betrayed by family. Klaus knew the look well. It was the same one he'd worn the first time Mikael raised a hand to him. First came the shock. Then the confusion. And finally the utter disappointment and pain at knowing that the one constant in this world, the thing you believed in most, was a lie. Family did not mean unconditional love. Sometimes it meant betrayal. Klaus wanted to pull his brother into his arms and wash that realization away, but he could not. The damage was done, and he would have to spend the rest of their lives trying to reverse it however much he could.

Caroline attempted to intercede, "That is not what happened, I promise you Kol. Please try to understand that we never meant-"

"Why, Nik?" Kol asked again, ignoring her.

Klaus hung his head in shame, knowing the answer would only cause more problems between the three of them.

Kol was not satisfied without an answer though, and he shoved Klaus hard. "WHY?!"

"Because I love her!" Klaus screamed back.

If there was a worse moment for that declaration to be made, he could not have timed it better. Because as the words left his mouth, Klaus realized that their argument now had an audience.

"Whom do you love, Niklaus?" Esther's worried voice carried over from the back door that Caroline had just come through. "What has my sons at such odds?"

Klaus' eyes slid over to find his mother, widening to see she was accompanied by Mikael.

Here was Kol's opportunity. They were caught in their affair, and the lies were all unraveling. There was no getting out of this confession, not now. And still Klaus stayed silent, letting his mouth hang open with words unspoken. He stared at Mikael, willing the earth to rise up and swallow him whole to save him from his father's anger, which was sure to follow. Mikael would kill him for this. He was sure of it. A weakling, a disappointment, an unworthy waste of space. That was all he had ever been, and today he would add disgusting adulterer to the list.

Sensing Klaus' hesitancy, Mikael zeroed in on his least favorite son. "Your mother asked you a question, boy. Answer."

"I-I..."

"He is in love with the girl Elijah has been courting," Kol interceded. "Katia"

"Tatia," Caroline corrected quickly.

"Tatia. Right," Kol cleared his throat. "I... saw them together as I was riding in last night and confronted him just now. I did not think it right, Niklaus moving in on a woman that Elijah held so much, ah- affection for."

Kol was an exceptional liar when he wanted to be, but Mikael frightened even the most conniving parts of him. The three of them stood stock still while they waited to see if Mikael accepted the fabrication. Klaus held his breath, as if his very life hung in the balance here. In a way, it did.

"That is unkind Niklaus," Esther finally spoke. "You know how deeply Elijah cares for the girl, and yet you say you love her also?"

Klaus choked but recovered quickly, "Yes, um, yes mother. I do."

Esther tutted under her breath. "Wicked girl. I always new she would sow nothing but discord in my home. You and Rebekah were right to stay away from her, Caroline. How could a girl play with two brother's hearts in such a way. Despicable!"

Their mother seemed to have worked herself into a frenzy over Tatia's apparent slight, and Mikael wanted no part of it. "Calm down, woman, you'll set the roof aflame if you're not careful."

He grabbed the basket his wife was carrying and urged her back towards the door to resume whatever task they'd taken a break from this morning. Klaus heard Esther's complaints growing fainter and fainter as they slipped out the door, and his heart slowly started to return to a normal pace again. When he turned around to face his brother again, it was to find Kol studiously examining his own feet.

"You lied for me," Klaus could not keep the shock out of his voice. "For us."

"We both know Father would have killed you for the truth," Kol mumbled. "Caroline too. No matter how... wrong what you have done is, I will not let him hurt you for it."

Klaus could not help himself from clapping a hand against his brother's shoulder, urging Kol to meet his eyes. Despite the pain that still lurked about him, Kol smirked up at him in his usual way. As if to say '_Must I always be the one to get you out of your messes?'_ Klaus knew then and there that this bond between siblings was something real and timeless. They would always protect each other, from any enemy, no matter the cost. Mikael would have called it silly sentimentality, but they knew it was something stronger. Something that made them unbreakable. With a heavy sigh, he pulled Kol into a tight embrace, relieved to feel his brother wrap his arms around him and squeeze back.

Eventually Kol pushed him away. "Shall we duel for Caroline's hand now?" he joked. "I warn you, I am quite competitive."

"Excuse me," Caroline scoffed. "If anyone is to duel for my hand, it shall be me!"

The three of them laughed at the joke, but it did bring up the very real issue of their complex situation.

"What are we going to do?" Kol asked, his voice small and unsure.

Klaus put his hands to his temples, getting a headache even thinking about it. He noticed that Caroline too looked to him for answers. The only problem was, he had none. The lies were piling up, and there could be no turning back now that Mikael was involved in their little deception. Even if they could find a peaceful way to reveal their secret, this was a small village with traditions and values, not a grand city where divorces were possible, and rarely at that. Figuring that the best course of action was sometimes inaction, Klaus came to a decision.

"We do nothing for now," he said. "The full moon is tomorrow night, and there are preparations to be made. We focus on that, and pray we can survive until a solution is found."

Kol and Caroline nodded, deferring to his seniority on the matter. They trusted him to keep them safe, and he only prayed that their trust was not misplaced. Even so, he could not fight the feeling that something truly terrible was coming for them all.

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><p><strong>Tada! We're finally about to get into the yummy vampire parts, and I'm sure those are going to be my favorites :)<strong>

**Notes on the sex: It really bothers me when I read about a girl's first time and it's all moaning and pounding and orgasms for everyone. I'm pretty sure that's a one in a million chance, and it pisses me off that it's the norm in fiction. Real first times are painful - yes, even if everyone does everything right and and there's foreplay and lube for all, there can still be pain; it's a size thing y'all - plus elbows end up in armpits and more often than not, someone is left high and dry. And that's okay. Sometimes, if the emotion is there and you genuinely feel connected to the person you just shared yourself with, then bad sex isn't really bad sex. It's not all about the sweaty, heavy breathing and coming like a freight train. You've got years for that stuff. First times can be awkward and still be amazing. So I hope everyone understand what I was going for with that part of the chapter.**

**Good!**

**Anyways... I think you can all guess what's going down next chapter. So far it looks like Part 5 and Part 6 will both get out before the Tatia episode airs. I'm hoping for another update Wednesday, and then the final one the Monday after. Fingers crossed the editing works out that way!  
><strong>


	5. 1016 AD - Part 5

**Title:** If I Die Young

**Disclaimer:** Anything TVD or TO related belongs to the CW

_**A/N: I'm SO over this freaking Original Village flashback haha. This chapter is pretty much just action packed goodness because we needed to start getting this show on the road. So I decided to go for it, and this was the product. Sorry for the length and the HUGE amount of plot developments to get through, but there you have it.**_

_**There will be one more short chapter of the Viking Village before we move on. Who knows where or when we'll go from there?**_

**_Recommended soundtrack for this chapter: Can't Pretend - Tom Odell_**

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><p><strong>1016 A.D - Part 5<strong>

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><p>Besides an awkward glance here or a tasteless joke there, Kol seemed to be acclimating to the shock of Klaus and Caroline's affair rather well. In fact, he almost seemed… relieved. Which slightly offended Caroline for some strange reason. The part of her that never liked being anyone's second choice was more than a little outraged that Kol treated the whole debacle as if he had just dodged a swinging sword. He should be so lucky!<p>

Klaus only laughed at her sullen attitude and told her that it could have been much worse.

She supposed he was right.

Still, she saw a tension that had never existed before between the brothers. Their laughter was more hollow and their tone too heavy. Regardless of hurt feelings or not, a sin had been committed here, and it was not hard to see that Kol felt betrayed. His love for Niklaus had been steady and sure. The two of them had been closer than even Rebekah and Klaus, so similar their dispositions were. And now, Kol could not see the brother he loved so dearly in Klaus. He could only see the man who had betrayed his trust as though it was nothing. It hurt Caroline to see them so at odds, but she trusted Klaus when he said it was not for her to fix. The trust between them would take time to rebuild, and it could only be achieved by the two of them.

They spent the next two days avoiding all thought of what the future would bring for them, readying the food, water, and livestock for the village's retreat into the caves as they did every month. Rebekah begged Esther to let her spend the night with Frederik's family - a trial run for future months as Rebekah put it - and reluctantly received permission. Elijah's similar request to allow Tatia to take Rebekah's place with them was firmly denied, much to his confusion.

Caroline thought that Klaus had gotten off easy for his made up misdeeds with Tatia. A scolding from his mother and ambivalence from his father was almost a blessing. However, she'd forgotten that Mikael did not do ambivalence. He excelled in terrorizing his children, and Niklaus' punishment came eventually.

On the day before the full moon, Elijah and Klaus had shirked their midday chores in favor of play fighting, with a small crowd come to watch. Caroline herself arrived just before Henrik and Bekah, giggling and wincing in equal measure as the metal of their swords clanged together in mock battle.

"Oh, look," Elijah laughed as he caught sight of their new audience. "Our sister has arrived to watch my fast approaching victory!"

"On the contrary, Elijah," Klaus mocked as their swords danced together again, and he bent low at the last moment to cut off his brother's belt. "She's come to laugh at you."

They all had a good laugh at the prank, Rebekah tittering especially loud to see her brothers playing so.

What none of them had noticed was that their fun had drawn the attention of more than one or two stray villagers. Mikael and Esther approached, carrying the baskets of food that Elijah and Klaus were supposed to be tending. Caroline noticed a familiar cruelty seeping into her father-in-law's eyes, as he focused in on his sons.

Esther attempted to soothe her husband, "Relax, Mikael. Niklaus means well."

"That is precisely my problem," Mikael hissed, grabbing the sword from Elijah's hand and motioning for his eldest son to get out of his way. "So, why don't you teach me that trick_, young warrior_," Mikael mocked, circling a very nervous Klaus with his sword drawn.

Klaus dodged the first swing. "Father, we were just having fun."

"We fight for our survival, and you find time for fun?" Mikael bellowed as he swung at his son again and again. Niklaus was skilled to be sure, but even he could not hold up long against a seasoned swordsman like Mikael. "I want to have fun! Teach me, come on!"

"Father, it was nothing…" Klaus tried again, but Mikael would not be stopped.

The attacks grew more brutal, and both men yelled as their swords banged together. Caroline flinched every time, the sound of steel against steel sending her nerves spinning. The punishment she'd thought Niklaus had escaped had finally come to pass. This was not just public humiliation, Mikael's usual weapon of choice. The awful man was out for blood this time, and he would have it before he was through.

A small scream left Caroline's mouth when Klaus lost his footing, and Mikael pressed his advantage. Klaus' sword flew from his grip and his feet were swept out from under him. Landing flat on his back, Klaus looked almost too stunned to notice that Mikael's sword was pressed closely against his neck, a blatant threat.

"You are foolish and impulsive,_ my boy_," he spat out at his son. "What? No more laughter?!"

The entire crowd seemed to still as the sight before them grew more heated. Mikael edged the sword closer to Klaus' neck, so that if he were to even swallow, he would be cut sharpy. Caroline trembled, wondering if she was about to see the love of her life murdered right in front of her. Surely Mikael would not be so bold? No with so many witnesses and his family all around. But there had always been a bit of madness in the man, and he seemed completely overtaken by it now. Klaus seemed to sense it too, his eyes wide and terrified.

Caroline could have kissed Esther, when she strode forward to stop the madness. "You've made your point, Mikael."

For one terrifying moment, she was afraid that Esther's stern tone had not had the desired effect. Mikael roared as he drove the sword forward, planting it in the ground next to Klaus' head.

"Some days, it's a miracle you're still alive," he seethed down at the boy on the ground before walking away.

Both Rebekah and Caroline ran to Klaus, helping him sit up and ensuring he was unharmed. He tried to brush them off, but his sister was having none of that. "Horrible man," she moaned, "You did nothing wrong and still he… Why does he target you so unfairly? Elijah was to blame as much as you!"

The pity and excuses had no effect on him. "Leave it alone, Bekah," Klaus begged, finally standing up.

Caroline longed to comfort him. To tell him that she was on his side, and how worried she'd been. But this was not the time or place for those reassurances, so she only watched sadly as he skulked off back to his chores.

When the sun began to set behind the trees, they all pushed, pulled, and dragged the animals into the underground caves that would protect them from bloodthirsty wolves. The torches burned bright as families attempted to lighten the mood with song and dance, but once supper had been consumed, a quiet reverence fell over the space. Villagers retreated to their corners, shouts turned to whispers, and the whole lot of them waited for the howling to begin.

Caroline spent all night entertaining Henrik in Rebekah's place. The child was always too frightened to sleep on a full moon, so they contented themselves with drawing mud pictures on the walls and playing hushed games. When the little boy finally dozed off in the small hours of the morning, she noticed for the first time that she did not see Klaus anywhere.

She wandered for a bit, hoping to find him sleeping away from his family or perhaps sneaking some wine with Kol. But everyone whom he could be with was accounted for, leaving her with only one frightening possibility. Remembering the drawings in his sketch book, Caroline realized the Klaus had snuck out to watch their neighbors transform into wolves.

She knew it was dangerous. She knew it was downright stupid. Most of all, she knew the Klaus would be livid with her for risking herself in this way.

Regardless, she tore off down the passageways towards the entrance to the caves, hoping that perhaps he had only just left. Surely she would find him close to the safety of the caverns bellow and they could journey back down together, with no one the wiser. But it was not the case. Caroline ran across the soft earth outside, hearing the distant howling echoing around her. Too afraid to yell his name, Caroline settled for searching in silence, peeking behind every tree and rock that she knew Klaus liked to sneak off to during the daytime. But she could not find him. It felt as though hours passed, full of searching and fear, and quite a few near misses with the things that snuffled in the bushes.

Just as she was close to giving up hope, she was pulled forcefully back, a hand covering her mouth and a voice in her ear.

"Are you mad, Caroline?" Klaus hissed at her angrily. "You will get yourself killed!"

"No madder than you," she whispered back, tearing his hand off her mouth and turning around to face him. "Why do you do this, Nik? What could possibly be worth this kind of risk?"

Klaus let go of her, pacing back and forth and rolling his shoulders as if his very skin was stretched too tightly across him. "You wouldn't understand. I don't come out here for a thrill or for fun. I _need_ to be out here. After fighting with Father today..."

"You're right, I do not understand!" she exclaimed, probably louder than was safe. "I do not understand why you _need _to put yourself in danger. What would I do if you were killed out here one night? Did you ever stop to think of that?"

Normally her tears would have urged him to come comfort her, but instead Klaus shushed her sharply. Caroline nearly took his head off for it, but then she noticed that his eyes were locked on something to her right and his whole body was coiled and tense. Sensing the danger, she slowly turned her head to gaze over at what had caught Klaus' attention.

A giant black wolf lurked at the edge of the clearing, its hackles raised and its teeth bared. A low growl emanated from the animal, signaling its intent to attack.

Caroline stood frozen where she was. Klaus was too far from her to help, and the wolf's glowing yellow eyes were locked directly on her, as if she were a piece of meat, ready to be feasted on. She could not help the small whimper that escaped her or how truly pathetic it sounded. Her noise must have excited the wolf because it moved closer, snapping its jaws terrifyingly. The beast broke into a run, faster that Caroline had ever seen a living thing move before, and she knew that this would be her end. Devoured by a wolf on a full moon, as all the stories warned about.

"STOP!" Klaus screamed, loud as a crack of thunder. The command seemed to explode from him, halfway between a shout and a growl of his own.

Amazingly, the wolf obeyed, skidding to a halt and turning on the spot to face Klaus instead. Something passed between them then that Caroline could not understand. The animal cocked its head at Klaus, almost surveying him, challenging him. Klaus held his ground though, staring the thing down, as if he was truly in charge here. After a very long moment, the wolf seemed to back down, and it slowly padded away from them.

Just as she was beginning to think they'd avoided certain death, Caroline heard a twig snap in the brush behind them. The wolf's ears pinned back and it launched itself without question into the bushes, teeth snapping and claws tearing. A pained human cry reached her ears, followed by screaming. So much screaming. And worse, it was easily distinguishable as the shrieks of a small child. They both rushed to the sounds, Klaus grabbing a large branch on their way. Without even pausing, Klaus swung the makeshift weapon at the wolf, catching him right on the head and then again between the shoulder blades. The beast whimpered, and vaulted off its prey, speeding off into the night.

A pathetic, gurgling moan drew Caroline's attention down to the ground. The body was so mangled and bloody that she nearly heaved, but she forced herself to examine the damage and determine if there was anything that could be done.

"N-n-nik," the mess of blood and flesh cried out.

Caroline's hands flew to her mouth. Oh please no...

Klaus had come to the same realization, dropping to his knees before his little brother, hands hovering over his broken body as if afraid to do more damage to the boy. "Oh, Henrik no..." Klaus brushed the boy's hair away from his face, but this only revealed more gruesome scratches. "No, no, no, no..."

It was as though he could not stop the word from spewing out of his mouth, so firm was his denial of this awful accident. Caroline's head was left spinning, wondering what on earth the child had been doing out here at all. With a sickening sense of dread, she was left to wonder how careful she had really been when she left the caves. Henrik had been asleep... hadn't he? Or had she been so preoccupied with finding Niklaus that she missed the soft pattering of footsteps following her out of their shelter? Henrik had always been such a quietly curious little boy. If he'd seen Caroline leaving, he would have followed, she had no doubt.

This was all her fault. _All her fault._

Henrik moaned again, weaker this time, which snapped Caroline into action. "Pick him up, Nik," she urged firmly. "If we can get him back to your mother and Ayana, perhaps they can save him. Quickly!"

Klaus reached his arms under Henrik's legs and shoulders, and they both tried to ignore the scream of pain that came from the boy at being jostled. Cradling his little brother in his arms, Klaus took off at breakneck speed, with Caroline close behind. They ran for a long time. Longer than Caroline had realized she'd ventured in the first place, but Niklaus seemed to know where he was headed. Straight for the village. The sun would begin to peak up over the horizon any minute now, meaning the villagers would be settling back into their homes.

As they were drawing near, Klaus called to her through panting breaths, "He is not moving, Caroline!"

"Keep going!" she shouted back.

Klaus slowed his sprint to a wobbly jog as he clutched Henrik tighter and panted through ragged breaths. "He's cold."

"It's the dead of winter, of course he's cold. If we can just get him back to your mother-"

"He's _cold_ Caroline," Klaus came to a stop and looked her dead in the eye, heartbreak and grief nearly breaking him apart.

She grabbed his face, tears streaming from her eyes, and yelled at him, "Don't you dare give up! If you do not keep running, I will take him _myself_!" In her hysterics she reached for Henrik's body, and brushed her bare skin against his. Her hand recoiled quickly from the boy as she realized that Klaus was right. Henrik was chilled far beyond what the winter's wind could have done. He was cold.

"No," Caroline sobbed. Never one to give up on a hopeless task, she turned and continued running back to the village. She ran as far and as fast as she could, breaking through the tree line into the west side of the village where her new family resided. "Esther!" she screamed pathetically.

Over and over again, she screamed for help, drawing attention from neighbors and strangers alike.

Her mother-in-law ran from their cottage with Rebekah, just as Niklaus stumbled his way out of the woods, Henrik's mangled body still in his arms.

"No... no!" Esther screamed as she fell to the ground beside the broken body of her youngest son. "What happened?"

"The wolves," Klaus answered miserably, trying to keep the tears at bay. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Esther turned to Ayana, "We must save him, please! There must be a way."

Caroline felt a surge of hope. These two women were the most powerful healers in the village. Witches, if Kol was to be believed. Surly they could fix this? An awful accident could not take such an innocent life. Esther always prattled on about the balance of nature, but this was not balance. Stealing the future of a boy so small, who had barely begun to live at all... that was the opposite of balance. Yes, they would fix this, Caroline was sure.

But as Ayana placed her hands on Henrik's body, there was no hope or reassurance on her face. "The spirits will not give us a way, Esther. Your boy is gone."

"No," Esther moaned, a pain so great and indescribable filling her cries that Caroline could not fathom what the woman was feeling. How great her loss was.

She cried over her son for ages, all of them bystanders to her misery. Those cries must have called her husband to her because Mikael was on them soon enough. At first, he could not seem to comprehend the sight in front of him. He dropped to the ground in much the same way Esther had, his hands reaching for the bloodied corpse of his boy. For the first time in her life, Caroline saw real emotion in this man she believed to be purely a monster. Mikael's sorrow matched that of his wife, as tears and screams of grief poured out of him. If there had been any doubt in Caroline's mind that Mikael loved his children, the sight before her banished it for good. He may not have shown it well, but Mikael loved his children in the fierce way that only a warrior can. She was sure of it.

Caroline rested her hand on top of Rebekah's hair and her head on Klaus' shoulder. They all mourned like that together for a long time. A family outraged over the loss of one of their own. But eventually the shock wore off, and it was time for the questions to begin. Questions with answers that would not be pleasing to anyone. Seeing the blood on Klaus' shirt, Mikael quickly and surely jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"What have you _done_?!" he screamed, grabbing Niklaus by the shoulders and tackling him into the dirt.

"Father!"

"Mikael!"

They all yelled for him to stop, but it was no use. Klaus refused to fight him off, and Mikael would not rest until the man that had murdered his youngest child was beaten to death. Punches and jabs flew at every second, and blood poured from Klaus' face at the assault. When Caroline could not stand to see any more, she flung herself at Mikael, grabbing onto his arm to stop him. He threw her off easily, and she caught a slap in the face for it.

Which naturally threw Klaus into a rage.

Before he could land a punch on his father, Caroline screamed out, "Stop! Stop! It was me! This my fault!"

Klaus turned to her, questions in his eyes, but he stayed silent. Mikael, however, did not.

"What did you say, girl?"

"It was me. I snuck out of the caves last night. Henrik must have followed me, and the wolves... I'm so sorry!" Caroline sobbed as she told them all the truth. She was to blame.

Mikael turned to Klaus, pointing an accusatory finger. "You-"

"Niklaus noticed we were missing and came to find us," Caroline lied quickly, knowing that to tell any other version of the story would be to sign his death sentence. "He fought off the wolf, but it was too late. We-we rushed to get him back. To help. But- I-I... I am so sorry, it was me."

For a moment, she thought Mikael would turn his punches on her. Indeed, he was looking at her as though he would like nothing more than to punish her for her crimes. She glanced back to Klaus and saw that he was poised and ready to leap between his father and any blow that would be cast on her. Caroline just hung her head in shame. What had she done to this family? Brother against brother, father and against son. And now Henrik was dead because she had wandered off without thinking. Readying herself for the strike that was sure to come, she raised her eyes to meet Mikael's. His face was still filled with rage, but one look at his still weeping wife stayed his hand.

"When you married my son," Mikael spoke soft and low, "I promised to protect you as though you were one of my own. And now you have cost me my child." Caroline tried to sob out another apology, but he cut her off. "Make no mistake, you will pay for this, girl. But you are my daughter, and that is the end of it. Now leave us. All of you."

Thanking the gods for Mikael's leniency, Caroline did not even wait for the others before she tore off towards the woods again.

Esther and Mikael needed to mourn their son, and their children needed to mourn their sibling. The sibling she had killed. She could not stand to be around them, knowing that she was to blame and they all knew it. She could not bear to look Niklaus in the eye and see the shame and guilt that were no doubt hiding there. She may have twisted the story in his favor, but she had not lied about who was responsible for Henrik venturing out into the night. Just because she had accepted responsibility though, did not mean she could handle a fight over it with Klaus. Maybe one day, many years in the future, but not now.

She spent nearly the whole day at the falls. There was no doubt she would probably catch her death out there with the snowy water and the frozen ground, but it didn't seem to matter so much as it should have. When no one came to fetch her by nightfall, she decided it was time return and face them all. No doubt Kol and Elijah would know by now what she had done.

It seemed that in the span of a few hours, she'd isolated herself from everyone that had ever mattered to her.

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><p>Klaus spent the whole day with Henrik's body. There were rituals to be performed and procedures to be followed before they could burn his remains and send him on to the afterlife.<p>

He alternated between being wracked with guilt over Henrik's death and guilt over Caroline taking the fall for it. There was no one to blame but himself and that damn irresistible urge of his to be out on the full moon. If he had just stayed put this one night... He should have known that Caroline was unused to caring for Henrik in the caves. He would sneak off and get into the worst kind of trouble, too scared or nervous to behave properly with so much danger surrounding them outside the walls. Even as a baby, he'd wailed long into the night, crawling this way and that.

The tears came anew with thoughts like those.

Mikael stayed far away from Ayana's tent as they prepared what was left of his son for burial. He showed up for the ceremony though, as the sun set and the pyre was lit. Caroline hung back, choosing not to stand with his family, and he could not begrudge her that distance. Things between them were forever changed, and he could not see how any measure of love would repair the damage a single night had done. He just wished she could forgive him for this awful accident one day.

Time moved strangely after that.

Esther would disappear for hours, and when she returned it was always loaded down with strange herbs and ancient tomes. His mother had always loved her witchcraft, and Klaus assumed she was retreating into it as a means of coping. What was strange though, was that Mikael seemed to be gone along with her more often than not. On the rare occasions that they were home at the same time, they were furiously whispering about the strangest things. Klaus could never catch too much of the conversation before he was ordered away, but he heard Ayana's name and whispers of Mikael's vendetta against the wolves come up more than once.

Even worse, Caroline had retreated into herself in a way he'd never seen before. Gone was the carefree girl with too much spirit for her own good. In her place was a demure and silent servant. She completed her tasks with expediency and order, the picture of a dutiful and meek housewife, and she chose to be alone whenever she could. Klaus tried to engage her for days, even recruiting Kol and Rebekah to the cause, but she would not be drawn in. She seemed to think herself a curse on his family, and he could not overcome his own grief quite yet to assure her that nothing was farther from the truth.

They all lived like strangers in the same house for days.

Until the night that changed all of their fates came to pass.

Sitting around the supper table in silence was a common affair lately. The clinking of plates and cups was the only sounds that anyone could be bothered to make at meal times, so it was rather jolting when Mikael stood up to address the table.

"It seems like years since we've had Henrik's presence at our table instead of mere days," he began sadly, resting a comforting hand on Esther's shoulder. "Losing family is like losing a limb. Irreplaceable and devastating. Which is why we must protect what is left of our family. Each one of you is precious to us, and we will ensure that nothing breaks this family apart ever again. I promise you all, as your father. This is my oath to you."

Esther stood up beside her husband, raising her glass. "To family," she toasted.

"To family," they all mumbled back, their hearts not in it.

They all drank deep, having their fill of the wine that tasted a bit too thick. And then chaos took hold. Faster than the human eye could catch, Mikael drew his sword and impaled Elijah in his chair. Caroline screamed, and Rebekah shrieked along with her. Kol and Finn were the ones to jump in to try to restrain their father, and they received a cut throat and a snapped neck for the troubles. Mikael seemed too quick and too strong to subdue, almost unnaturally so.

Esther stayed frozen to the wall, her eyes closed and her face turned away from the bloodshed. Klaus could not understand. Why did she not stop this?

"Father, no!" Rebekah screamed in confusion, her mind unable to process the massacre happening before her eyes.

Mikael would not be reigned in though. He was strangely calm and methodical as he ran Rebekah through, cupping her cheek as she fell to the ground in a pool of her own blood. That was the final straw for Klaus, and he rushed at his father. Smashing a chair over his head had no effect, and neither did the punch he threw at Mikael's face. It was like hitting a stone wall, and the vice grip Mikael wrapped around his throat was like being strangled by ten men. With a cry of pain, Klaus felt the same sword that had killed his siblings pierce his own stomach. He looked down at his red stained shirt, and he knew that the day he'd always feared had finally come to pass. His father had killed him.

Somehow, he managed to stay conscious as the blood flowed out of him, long enough to see Mikael approach Caroline, where she cowered in a corner.

He drew the girl up, a hand tangled in her hair, forcing her to look him in the eye. "This gift was to be for my children alone, and you have no idea how I longed to make you their first meal."

"Please," Caroline whimpered.

"Yes, girl. Plead for your life, as I've pleaded with the gods to return my son to me."

Caroline gasped, pulling away from him futilely. "Your face! What has happened to your face?"

"Exactly what will happen to yours, dear girl." Mikael hissed. "Like it or not, you are my daughter, and this gift is for you as well."

At last, Mikael drew up his sword and pushed it through Caroline's heart with a vicious thrust.

"No!" Klaus, barely holding onto consciousness, dragged himself off the floor to throw himself at his father. His wide eyes caught Caroline's as he stumbled toward her, and he watched as they fluttered slowly shut. Mikael tossed him to the side easily, letting his body drop beside Caroline's. Klaus weakly turned her over, noticing that not even her lips were quivering with her final breaths. She was dead. Just like all of his siblings. They were all dead. And so was he really. The last thought he had before the darkness took him was that he wished Caroline could have stayed for just a few more moments. He'd never gotten to tell her how sorry he was, or how much he still loved her.

He supposed they'd have eternity for that now though, if they ever reunited in death.

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><p>The first few hours of his new life were all a blur.<p>

He woke up in his bedroom with Rebekah, but no Caroline, Finn, Elijah, or Kol in sight. His little sister was so scared, and he shared her fear. What had happened? The blood pooling around them was proof that they had not imagined the slaughter their father had committed. When Mikael entered the room and offered them the bloody wrist of Rebekah's young friend Ingrid, Niklaus refused at first.

But Rebekah could not refuse. The hunger rose up in her, and she viciously attacked her friend.

The scent of blood and the sight of feeding spurred Klaus on, and he latched onto Ingrid's neck himself. The relief of a hunger he hadn't even processed was instantaneous. A euphoric glow settled inside of him, filling him up with strength and awareness. Sights and smells threatened to overpower him, and small sounds from across the village square suddenly seemed thunderous in his ears.

From Rebekah's expression, he could tell she shared the new experience.

When they'd had their fill, Mikael yanked them off the poor girl and commanded her to stay put. For some reason, she obeyed, not giving away a hint of fear or pain as she sat in front of them. Mikael left then, with no explanation nor a word of comfort for the children he had viciously cut down only hours before.

It was then that Kol came in, carrying Caroline's unconscious form in his arms.

Klaus rushed to her as his brother set her down. "Is she…?"

"I do not know," Kol answered. "She should be awake by now, but- I woke some time ago. As did Elijah and Finn. But Caroline..."

While they waited for Caroline to surge to life as they had all done - prayed, hoped, pleaded that she would wake - Kol revealed the purpose of the night's slaughter. He had been the first to wake and the first to receive an explanation. From the spell Esther had cast, to the wine they drank, his brother explained it all. Their parents would not lose another child. Not ever. The price they would pay for this immortality would be steep, Klaus knew. Nature always found a balance. But he could not bring himself to care. So long as Caroline awoke with the same blessing, they would find a way to deal with it. He could overcome anything so long as he did not have to live out his eternity without her.

As if she'd heard his silent prayer, Caroline chose that moment to seize to life, gasping and spluttering and grabbing onto Klaus with both hands.

"Mikael," she panted, looking around the room for her murderer.

"Is gone," Klaus reassured her and held her tight. He noticed Rebekah giving their embrace an odd look, but he could not think on that now. "There is so much to tell you, Caroline, but first you must drink."

He motioned for Ingrid to return to them, and the girl walked over obediently. Klaus took hold of her still bleeding wrist, and held it in front of Caroline's mouth. She look up at him in confusion and then down and the girl's bloodied arm again. He could see the hunger rise up in her, as her lips parted and her breaths became ragged.

Caroline must have felt her body's demands and realized what it wanted from her. "No," she refused. "I will not."

"You must, Caroline," Klaus urged her. "If you don't, you will die!"

"I already died!" she screamed in confusion, "We all did!"

Klaus shook his head, trying to make her understand. "No, we didn't. And if you drink, then we never have to again."

Looking down and the wet, sticky, lifesaving blood pooling on Ingrid's wrist, Caroline shoved herself back from it with all her might. She huddled in the corner, her arms around her legs and her face pressed to her knees. Kol and Rebekah looked at him, their brows drawn together, utterly baffled at her strange reaction. None of them had resisted for so long against the pull of the bloodlust. Their minds had told them no, but their bodies rebelled, hungry for the one thing that would sustain them eternally. Klaus could not think of a solution to this problem. If Caroline would not drink, she would die. Kol had told them as much. If the transition was not complete soon, there was no telling how long she could last like this.

He shuffled towards her on his knees pulling her face up to look at his. "Do you trust me?"

Caroline locked her jaw tight, but nodded sharply. "I do. Of course, I do, but-"

"Then please, do as I ask, love. Drink and I will explain everything," he promised. "I cannot lose you again, Caroline. Do not make me."

Klaus leaned down and kissed her softly, their first kiss in so many days since Henrik had died. She kissed him back, threading her fingers through his loose hair. He could feel her body relaxing against his, their small touches soothing her fear and her nerves. They could both hear Rebekah's gasp, and Kol's quiet shushing, reassuring her that it was all right.

Finally, Caroline allowed herself to be led over to her complacent friend. When she put her mouth to Ingrid's wrist, Klaus could feel the veins under his eyes course with blood, and he saw that it was the same for his siblings. He expected Caroline to stop after a few moments, but she did not. In fact, her pulls became more ferocious, and she grabbed Ingrid's arm forcefully, pulling it to her.

"Stop, Caroline," Klaus tried to pull her off the girl, but she shoved him roughly and sent him careening into the wall with her new strength. "She will take too much, stop her!" Klaus called to Rebekah and Kol, watching helplessly as they eventually pulled Caroline off.

Her teeth were bared, fangs dropped down and eyes red with hunger. She looked like a demon, his sweet Caroline.

Wiping the blood from her mouth, Caroline scarmbled back up to her corner again, fear and revulsion covering her face as her features returned to normal. They went through the whole story again for her, but knowing the facts did not calm her as it had calmed him and Rebekah. In fact, she seemed more sure of her damnation now. It was only Klaus' arms around her the settled her from full a blown panic, and they spent the rest of the night like that. Alone and shaky as Mikael cared for a weakened Esther, in a blur.

* * *

><p>The weeks that followed were some of the worst of their immortal lives.<p>

Nature was swift with its punishment, and when the sun rose they faced the first of their new consequences. Each small hole in the ceiling or under the doors let in light that burned on their skin like fire. It kept them indoors for days, where there was nothing to do but commiserate about their ill fortune and try to keep Rebekah from blabbing to everyone about what she had seen the night of their transition.

Caroline had taken her aside and told her who knows what, but it seemed to silence the girl well enough. She still would not talk to either Caroline or Klaus, but Kol assured them that she was adjusting to the strange news. Slowly.

More consequences came when they ventured out at night. A mere scratch from the tree that had blessed them with eternal life nearly cut Rebekah down where she stood. So they burned it to the ground. An invisible barrier kept them out of their neighbors' homes, and only a spoken invitation could knock it down. Unfortunately, no one wanted to invite them in after their mysterious behavior as of late. The flowers that Caroline had loved to pick from the base of the White Oak burned like boiling water, and they stayed well away from it.

In the meantime, they practiced with their new gifts. During the daylight hours, Esther would convince some villager or another to enter her house and provide them with the blood that sustained them. They each took turns compelling the memories away from their guests, mastering the power of mind control that seemed to rest in their eyes. Quite on accident, they also realized that they could repair the damage their bites had done. While human blood kept them alive, their own magically altered blood could heal human wounds. During the nights, the boys nearly tore the forest apart. Where their days were spent sleeping and resting, their nights were spent free and wild.

Mikael and Esther indulged them, guilty over trapping the children inside all day.

Caroline found she could make the leap from the bottom to the top of the falls in one bound. Kol could knock down a whole tree with one punch. Elijah bent a sword in half, and they all watched in awe as the torn skin of his hands mended back together in seconds. They were truly gods among men now, and Niklaus had never felt better. Though Mikael was created first, he was no stronger than any of them now. He could not push his children around, and there was a glorious freedom to that knowledge. If he ever raised a hand to them again, it would only take two of them teaming up to put him down. The thought comforted Niklaus in a way nothing else ever had as a child. He was strong enough now. Strong enough to break free from his father, and protect those he loved.

Eventually, Esther worked her magic on seven beautiful rings, with vibrant blue stones set in them. These rings allowed them to venture out into the sun protected, and they could finally resume their normal lives. Klaus joked with Caroline that this would be their own secret wedding ring. Eternal and unique. Just like them.

It was on the night of the next full moon that things went terribly awry again.

Being packed in tight with so many pumping hearts was unbearable. Every friend, every mother, every child was no more than a meal in their eyes, and Klaus could see his siblings losing their control. As though they had planned it, one by one they stood up and ventured out of the caves, much to the villagers' astonishment. They no longer needed to hide from the wolves as they had when they were mere humans. Their bodies were strong now, and their speed unmatched. Any fight to be had would be a fair match, and as the howling echoed around them, they walked without fear.

"We cannot be killed anyway," Kol argued as they strolled the woods. "I dare those mongrels to come after us out here. We would destroy them all."

Caroline found fault with that. "They are people, Kol, not monsters. We know nothing about their ways, we cannot simply kill them."

"They murdered Henrik, Caroline!" Kol yelled at her, angry at her defense of the wolves.

"Which could well have been an accident!" she tried to make excuses again.

Kol scoffed, "You're insane."

"And you're an imbecile."

Klaus broke between their fighting, wondering how on earth his parents every could have thought them to be a good match. "Where is Bekah?" he asked worriedly. "Did she go off with Elijah and Finn earlier? I did not see her."

Caroline turned around, looking for her missing sister. "She was behind me only a moment ago."

"Damn that girl, now we must go looking for her," Kol complained.

Trekking back in the direction they'd come, the three of them listened to the howling that echoed off the hills. In his heart of hearts, Klaus was glad that Caroline did not condemn the wolves outright. With all the time he'd spent outside on full moons, he knew them to be noble creatures, cursed to a horrible fate. He'd seen their bones break and their skin shift. They seemed to lose all control when they turned, and killing a man for a crime he did not truly commit seemed wrong. No matter how crushing his grief over Henrik's death still was.

It was not difficult to track down Rebekah, as they neared the opening to the caves. She had Frederik pressed up against a large tree, her hands in his hair and her lips glued to his.

"Oh, Bekah," Kol complained loudly. "Anything but this, I'll go blind!"

His complaint shocked Federik out of his passion, but Rebekah seemed not to hear him. She trailed her kisses down from Frederik's mouth to his neck, ignoring his embarrassed attempts to brush her off. The young man's eyes were full of apologies as his betrothed's brothers swooped down upon him, but apology quickly turned to pain. Klaus smelled the blood before he saw it, and there was plenty to be had. Rebekah had bitten into Frederik's shoulder viciously, tearing apart skin and bone with her fangs. Looking to his side, he could see Caroline and Kol's feature distorting with their hunger, knowing that his were likely doing the same.

The bloodlust was uncontrollable, and he raced forward to tear Frederik from Rebekah's arms. In the back of his mind, he knew he had done so to protect the boy, but somehow when the blood was so close, coursing down his hands and wetting his cheek, that was impossible to remember. Klaus felt his own fangs drop, and he sank them into Frederik's already torn flesh. He drank long and hard, reveling in the strength and energy that filled him with every gulp. There was nothing like this in the world, the pure unbridled power that came from consuming human blood.

Distantly, he could hear Rebekah begging for him to stop and feel Kol trying to pull Frederik from him, but he ignored it all.

At last, a sharp blow to the back of his head stunned him enough to let the poor boy go. He turned around and bared his fangs at his assailant, finding Mikael standing over him with a rock.

"Idiot boy!" his father yelled at him. "Look what you have done!"

Klaus turned back to Frederik, noticing that the boy was not moving. Rebekah launched herself to the side of her husband-to-be, desperately trying to force her healing blood into his mouth. It was no use though. The boy was dead.

They'd all had slip ups in the past weeks. Rebekah had torn into two villagers the night they burned the White Oak Tree to the ground. Esther had been forced to use magic to restrain them a few times in the house when neighbors had come by for their little 'visits'. And Niklaus would never forget that first night that Caroline had nearly drained Ingrid dry after her first taste. But this was different. All those times, there had been someone to stop them. Something to intercede and preserve the human life they'd been so close to snuffing out. Now now. Frederik was dead, and Klaus had killed him.

"No, no, no," Rebekah sobbed as the last vestment of a life that no longer belonged to her was stripped away.

"We must leave him here," Mikael commanded and leaned down to drag Rebekah off the boy. "We shall return to the caves as if nothing happened. When the sun rises, the people will believe he was killed by wolves. Just like Henrik."

Caroline seemed to want to argue against leaving the body for the animals, but one sharp look from Mikael silenced her. He still frightened her so much.

A surge of hate and rage rose up in Klaus like he'd never known before. How dare Mikael intimidate Caroline that way. How dare he force her to marry Kol, force her to become a monster, force her into a life she never wanted. Caroline was radiant and innocent, and she did not deserve Mikael's rough hand or intimidation. With a roar of anger, Klaus launched himself at his father, intent on ending this fight once and for all.

Before he got halfway there, a awful shift seemed to take place inside of him. He fell to the ground with a grunt of pain, both hands clutching his head, feeling as though it had been split in two. Caroline was with him instantly, but he nearly threw her off as his body seized violently.

Something was wrong with him. Desperately, terribly wrong.

It was only when the sound of his own bones breaking reached his ears that he realized exactly what it was.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I researched how long it takes for a dead body to turn cold in the winter. As fast as thirty minutes in the right kind of weather btw. If I end up in prison, I'm going to need you guys to be my character witnesses.<strong>

**So basically, you've got a similar scene here with Klaus yelling for the wolf to stop attacking Caroline and Tyler yelling for wolf Mason to stop. Basically, I interpret the mythology as wolves know their own - untriggered or not - which is why Klaus was never killed when he snuck out before. It's why Tyler was able to keep Mason in check even as a human. And the wolf being challenged by one of his pack (the chief's son no less) was enough to stop the thing in its tracks before it killed Caroline. Sadly, Henrik had no such luck. **

**And we got through all of the vampire stuff AND Klaus' first human kill. Talk about progress! Next chapter is short but meaningful. Stay tuned! **


	6. 1016 AD - Part 6

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything TVD or TO related belongs to the CW

_**A/N: And with this chapter we reach the end of the Viking Village section. FINALLY. This whole chapter happens really fast because I wanted to get as much of the action and confusion in here as possible, while still making it clear what exactly was happening. Dear god, I hope that TO doesn't completely screw this over with the Tatia episode, if they even show the part where she is murdered. If they do, I'm just going to pretend this is how it happened.**_

* * *

><p><strong>1016 A.D - Part 6<strong>

* * *

><p>The rational part of Caroline's mind knew that this snapping and breaking of bones was no natural occurrence. Klaus was suffering from something awful and painful and decidedly magical. How else could anyone explain the sudden spasms tearing through him and the strange sort of shifting that seemed to be taking place under his skin?<p>

Filled with fear, Caroline ran to him and dropped at his side, placing a soothing hand on his back. "Niklaus, what's wrong? What is happening?" she begged him for answers, but the pain kept him from speaking.

He let out a loud round of screams as his body gave another great lurch.

Just like her mother used to do for her, Caroline ran a calming touch over the span of his shoulders, hoping to at least comfort Klaus through this terrible episode. To her alarm, she actually felt the bones in his back snap back and forth, like they were trying to tear themselves apart then jump back together. His siblings seemed to have no clue what was going on either. They watched their brother writhe in agony, without a clue what to do.

"Rebekah," Mikael finally called them to attention. "Go get your mother from the caves. Meet us in the village. Now!"

In a flash, Rebekah was gone.

Caroline sent a prayer of thanks up to the gods for Mikael's good thinking. This was obviously just another consequence of Esther's magic. Like the sun or the vervain. Esther would fix this, just like she did with everything else. Klaus' screams brought her back from her worrying, and she settled for whispering soothing words in his ear. Before she could get more than one or two out though, she felt herself being torn away from Klaus' side.

"What-"

"Silence, girl," Mikael warned her. "That animal deserves none of your pity."

"Father..." Kol moved forward but one look from Mikael kept him at bay.

Caroline tried to twist out of his grasp, shocked that he would use this of all opportunities to degrade his son. When he was so weakened. "How dare you say such-"

"Look, you foolish child," Mikael bellowed. "Look at what he is!"

"He is your son, and he is in pain," Caroline tried to reason with him, but her father-in-law would not be deterred.

He laughed malevolently, "My son? Look again."

Not understanding his words at all, Caroline looked down to Klaus' huddled form on the ground. His shoulders were hunched over, his forehead pressed to the dirt. Every few moments a new set of tremors would sweep through him, accompanied by his pathetic and pained moans. A particularly brutal jolt ran through him, and as Caroline heard the bones of his spine popping, Klaus threw his head back in agony. His eyes met hers, and finally Caroline understood what was truly happening here. The stormy grey that usually met her gaze when she stared deeply into Klaus' eyes was gone.

Replaced by a bright, glowing _yellow_.

The color sparked a memory in her, and the recognition was instantaneous. She would never forget the terrifying eyes of the monster that had torn into Henrik; the monster that had nearly torn into her. With horrifying clarity, Caroline recalled that the beast had only stopped when Klaus had called for it to. Almost as if it had recognized… one of its own. Understanding washed over her like a new tide. There were very few truths to be told about their wolfish neighbors across the river, but the single fact that nearly everyone in Caroline's village agreed upon was that these men were cursed. A blood debt passed from father to son through the ages as penance for the heinous crimes of their ancestors.

Father to son…

Klaus looked up at her with those eyes of a monster, and she knew.

She knew what Mikael had apparently suspected all of Klaus' life. The beatings and the bullying and the torture made such perfect sense now. Perhaps Mikael had never known for certain, or perhaps he had. But there was no avoiding the truth now. Klaus was not Mikael's son.

"Get off of me," Caroline finally managed to throw her captor off. She ran for Klaus again and somehow helped him stand. "We must get him back to Esther. She will fix this, I'm sure."

Mikael sped off ahead of them, leaving her and Kol to half run, half stumble their way back to their empty village with Klaus carried in their arms. They trudged along slowly, needing to stop frequently when a new attack weakened Klaus too much to stand. Esther was waiting when they arrived, a fire constructed in the pit in front of their house. Elijah and Finn were there as well, and Caroline felt relief at their presence. They would keep Mikael in check, she was sure of it. That was why when they approached to take Klaus off her hands, she let them. She handed him over, entrusting his care to his noble elder brothers.

How wrong she had been.

They quickly used their strength and speed to subdue Klaus, tying him to a posted cross by the fire and restraining him there in front of his mother. Esther had already begun to chant, ignoring Klaus' fevered cries for her to stop.

"What are they doing?" Caroline asked worriedly.

Mikael appeared next to her out of nowhere. "Esther is cleaning up her mess," he explained, never taking his vicious eyes off of his bastard son. "Niklaus is a monstrosity. A mixture of two species that should never have existed at all, let alone within the same person. I'd rather just kill the whelp, but Esther has promised she can suppress the unnaturalness he inherited."

"Suppress it?" she couldn't understand.

Keeping a wolf locked inside… that sounded like dark magic. Blood magic more sinister even than the kind that had created them. Far beyond Esther's capabilities. Sure enough, Rebekah arrived with a village girl behind her, dragged by the hair. She threw the human at Esther's feet, and as the firelight danced on her features, Caroline recognized her. Tatia. She looked terribly frightened and aware, unlike all those other victims that they'd compelled to be at ease.

"She would not come when I ordered her," Rebekah told them. "The locket around her neck reeks of vervain, and it burned me when I tried to take it. Someone has given it to her for protection."

Esther's eyes shot to Elijah in anger. "Foolish boy. This girl is a waste of your time and affection, she deserves what she gets."

As if to prove her point, Esther dragged Tatia up to her feet and put a dagger to her throat. Caroline watched in horror as the witch pulled the blade swiftly across Tatia's skin, slicing her throat open wide. Elijah screamed out in dismay, watching his lover's body sink to the ground, blood spilling out over the coals of the fire Esther had built. So much bloodshed tonight. So much death. How had they gotten here? Caroline was not a fool, she saw the direction they had all been heading in. Their cruelty grew with their bloodlust, and even Esther, who had remained human, grew fiercer with every bit of dark magic she performed. This curse of theirs was seeping into their very bones. Changing them from the inside out. The dead boy in the woods and the dying girl by the fire were proof of that.

The addition of blood to Esther's mixture must have completed the spell, as some invisible force attacked Niklaus. He started to cry out in extreme pain, much more horrifying than his strained whimpers from before. Esther began her chanting anew, one hand held over the fire and another out towards Klaus.

"Mother, please no!" Klaus screamed, as if every word from her mouth caused him great agony. "Stop, I beg you!"

Caroline launched herself forward, but it was Kol surprisingly, who held her back. "It is for the best Caroline," he urged. "You saw what he would have become. Let Mother fix him!"

"She's killing him!" Caroline tried to make him see reason.

"And Father will kill you if you try to stop this!" Kol screamed at her.

It was true. Whatever wound he inflicted on her would surely heal, but their father would put her down if she tried to intercede. So she stopped struggling. Mikael and Elijah kept Klaus pinned, while the rest of them stood helplessly and watched. Caroline turned her face away, wishing that she could drown out the screams of her beloved as he cried for mercy. As he cried for her.

The roaring fire died down when Esther's chanting did, and at last Klaus' screams faded to quiet sobs.

"Is it done?" Mikael asked darkly.

Esther nodded. "It is done." There was a dark tension between the married couple. The product of Esther's betrayal being out in the open, Caroline supposed.

Elijah moved forward to cut Klaus down, and his brother sagged into his arms. He deposited Klaus gently on the wet earth. "He will need rest, Father."

"So be it," Mikael waved him off. He could not have cared less about Niklaus when he was a child, and now that he knew his true parentage, it seemed the boy was barely his concern at all. "The rest of you come with me. We have lived in fear of these beasts too long, it is time we did away with them. You are strong now, with teeth and strength and speed to rival their own. We shall raze that pack of dogs to the ground. No survivors."

"Monster," Caroline whispered, never taking her eyes off of Mikael.

He turned around, his gaze locking on her. "What did you say to me, girl?"

"I said you are a monster!" she yelled, not even trying to hide the tears in her voice. "They are innocent men, cursed with this evil burden, and you would cut them down for simply existing? Or maybe your injured ego is truly the source of this?"

A sharp slap caught her across the cheek, packing all the strength of Mikael's new abilities. She fell to the floor and heard Klaus groan in outrage from his place on the ground nearby.

"You can stay here with the abomination then," Mikael seethed at her insult. "Something tells me that is what you'd _prefer_, hmm?"

No one commented, but everyone understood Mikael's meaning. They had all heard Klaus calling out Caroline's name along with his pleas for mercy. Rebekah looked to the ground, as did Kol, the two co-conspirators in their secret. They were both ashamed now that the truth was out. Elijah and Finn did their best to ignore it, grabbing their swords and obeying Mikael's cry for war. Caroline herself tried to keep Mikael's gaze, but his disgust and judgment was too unbearable. She dropped the stare, letting angry tears of shame roll down her face. As much an admittance of guilt as she'd ever give.

"That is what I thought," Mikael spat out.

He turned from her and rallied his children together, setting off into the woods as a group. Even Rebekah, in all her weak womanly glory was taken to hunt the wolves. Caroline couldn't understand how so much had gone so wrong so quickly. Perhaps they were too scared of Mikael or too consumed by bloodlust, but the family she had known before would never take part in a massacre like this. Even with Henrik's death, she could never have imagined such hate lurked in their hearts. In the distance they heard the growling and howling take on a new facet. Yelps of pain and barks of aggression joined the fray, and Caroline's heightened hearing let her experience it all as if it were happening right before her. It was a slaughter.

From his place on the ground, Klaus reached out to her, "Caroline."

She was with him in an instant, grasping his hand and stroking his face. He looked truly torn apart, as if piece of him had been ripped away. She supposed it had. Caroline ignored Esther's look of judgment, knowing that eventually they would have to explain themselves and pay for their adultery. But not tonight. Tonight was for building back Klaus' strength and health.

Slowly she helped him sit back up. "You'll be stronger tomorrow," she promised, hoping it was true, "And this will all just be a bad memory."

Klaus shook his head back and forth. "No, it will not. Undo it mother please," he begged.

"I will not," Esther stayed where she sat before the crackling embers. "Your father is right. Your very existence shames him and me, and it is my fault."

The words hit Klaus like a slap, seeming to hurt him more than anything that had happened in the past hour. He weakly dragged himself to his mother, somehow managing to hold onto his anger through what remained of the physical pain. "I cannot help what I am mother. You made me so, now change me back."

Caroline half expected his eyes to glow yellow again with his fury, but they stayed a deep red. She watched as the veins filled under his eyes, and his fangs sank down. Anger could trigger the change, she knew, but this was not anger. This was rage and shame and ferocity all rolled into one, and it was dangerous.

"I did," Esther agreed, tears leaking from her eyes. "My sins created you and I will surely pay for them. At least with this spell, you will remain contained. The beast inside of you will never be set free. But you are an abomination my son, and I am sorry for it."

Her final words triggered something in Klaus that seemed long buried. Abomination. Monster. Disgrace. Bastard. She could see the words that had been thrown at Klaus like stones tonight spinning around in his head. Before she could even cry out, Klaus's hand had shot forward, directly into his mother's chest. Esther's eyes bulged as her son grabbed her heart with his bare hand. With one quick tug, he ripped the still beating thing out of her, and Esther's lifeless body sank to the ground.

Caroline did scream then. She screamed loudly and fearfully, frightened to her very core. Klaus turned on her, and for a moment the rage was still there. All consuming and unreasonable. But as he caught sight of her terror, his face softened, and realization set it. He looked down to the heart in his hand and the body at his feet and panic set it.

"No, no, no," he moaned, "I did not mean it- I… Gods save me, what have I done?"

Klaus sank to his knees, and for once Caroline did not go to him. How could she comfort him now? He was a murderer twice over tonight, and the blood remained on his hands and face. The blood of an innocent and the blood of his own mother. Caroline sobbed, wishing that the ground would rise up and swallow her whole. Her emotions were uncontrollable, threatening to overwhelm her and never let go. This was the price she paid. For all her strength and stamina, the simple sensations of fear and sorrow could tear her down nothing. Decimate her like nothing else could.

Maybe her cries had carried too far, or maybe all the wolves were truly dead, but either way, something called Mikael back to that spot.

Covered in the blood of the wolves, an aura of murder about him, Mikael took one look at them and knew the story of what had transpired. Esther's corpse laid out on the ground, Klaus holding her heart, and Caroline sobbing uncontrollably. The solution to the puzzle was not a difficult one. "You," Mikael flew towards his son, picking him right up and tackling him. "You vile creature!"

"Stop!" Caroline shouted, and this time there was no one to hold her back. She flew at Mikael, tearing him off Niklaus and throwing him with all her might. His trajectory cut a tree in half, she threw him so hard. "There has been too much bloodshed tonight. Too much!"

"Father I..." Klaus tried to explain himself.

"I am _not _your father," Mikael raged. "You have no father, I have killed him tonight, just as I will kill you!"

Caroline placed herself in front of Klaus, shielding him from the man who was not his father. "You will have to fight us both if you plan to do so. And you cannot win."

That irritating truth only enraged Mikael further. Klaus was regaining his strength with every passing moment, and with Caroline by his side the fight would be too uneven. The blessings of strength and speed had made Caroline their equal, and her favor would turn the tide of the battle that was sure to follow. The veins under Mikael's eyes pulsed and receded, reined in by his sheer force of will.

Reluctantly, Mikael backed off, retreating a few paces and folding his hands behind his back. "I don't need to fight you," he gloated with a confident smirk on his face. "Once my children see what you have done to their mother, they will tear you apart for me. They've proven they're quite capable of violence tonight."

Her eyes sank shut. She knew too well how the lust for blood and aggression grew with the hunt. They had all reined it in rather well the past few weeks, but it was nearly uncontrollably when let loose. And Klaus's siblings had let loose like no other tonight. Who knows how many wolves they had killed. Dozens? Hundreds? They would return to the scene of this crime, and there would be no reasoning with them. Klaus would be just another wolf, guilty or murder and ready to be put down like a dog. Caroline shook with rage and fear. They were doomed. All of them.

"What you did," Klaus whispered softly.

"What, boy?" Mikael called out. "Speak up, I cannot hear your pathetic whimpering."

Klaus drew himself up to his full height, looking Mikael in the eye with no trace of fear for the first time in his life. "What _you _did to our mother," he spoke loudly and clearly. "You came back and punished her for her infidelity. There was nothing I could do to stop it, weakened as I was. _You_ killed her."

Mikael's face fell.

There was no hint of smirking confidence or hateful pride. There was only deep and utter shock coupled with fear painting his twisted features. Caroline saw the decades of abuse and ill treatment flashing through Mikael's mind. His children feared and hated him, no matter how much family meant to them. They loved Niklaus and loathed Mikael, and in a battle of who to believe, they would chose their brother. Mikael's history of anger and violence would not do him any favors tonight when his children returned. And Klaus would let them tear him apart.

In a final effort, out of hope or some long lost naivete, Mikael turned his gaze towards Caroline. The only witness of the true facts. His eyes implored her, pleaded with her to prove his innocence.

Caroline froze where she stood. In the span of a few hours, her entire world had changed, and everything in it was ruined. Her affair was discovered, Klaus' lineage revealed, her loved ones murdered. And now she was being given an impossible choice. Stand by truth and honor and everything the history books told her to believe in, or stand by the man she loved more than life, who needed her protection dearly. She remembered with fierce clarity the day of her wedding. The day that she'd sworn to herself to always protect Niklaus from his father. The vile, hateful man that stood before her deserved none of her pity nor her mercy. He deserved to be cast out, exiled from his family. He deserved everything he got.

"Run," she spoke to Mikael in a firm tone. "Run away and never return. The sun is rising and your children will be back. When they arrive, I will stand by Niklaus, and you will be ruined in the eyes of your family forever. So run, Mikael. If you care to live."

Mikael narrowed his eyes, looking at them both with murder in his eyes. "You two deserve each other," he seethed. "And I will hunt you down like the monsters you are."

He did not need to be told twice what awaited him if he stayed though, so with one last spiteful look, Mikael flashed away, running for his life. Klaus must have been weaker than he had been pretending because he swayed on his feet and fell to the ground easily. Caroline caught him, and sank down with him, stroking his hair as he finally let the tears flow.

"I am so sorry, Caroline," he apologized through his crying.

"Shh," she hushed him and wiped his mother's blood off his hands. "I will protect you always, Niklaus. I love you, and I will protect you."

They stayed like that until the others returned, when the sun just began to peek over the tree tops. With reverence and sorrow, they spoke of the epic battle that had ensued after Mikael tore Esther's heart from her chest. Rebekah lurched and wept, having lost her future husband and her mother all in one night. The others mourned as well, Finn tearing off into the night to hunt Mikael down, Kol along with him. With Elijah's help, the three of them stayed to bury their mother's body, and lay flowers over her resting place. They would not burn her. Knowing they had to leave the bloodshed behind and start their new lives, the family packed up their belongings and left the village that very day. There would be questions about Esther, Tatia, and even Frederik; ones they had no answers to.

Caroline did not even allow herself to bid farewell to her mother and father.

A decision she regretted for the rest of her life, when they heard only weeks later that a vicious monster had torn the village apart in a rage and burned it to the ground along with everyone in it.

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><p><strong>And we're done with Viking Caroline! Phew! She went a little Lion King in there, but I couldn't resist.<br>**

**I haven't totally decided where we're moving from here. I've got two options and I've just got to write a bit more before I decide which one to go with. Which might mean a little break in updates. Hopefully not, but we'll have to see. Either way, you're going to see a VERY different Caroline from the one you've seen in these flashbacks because just like with all the other Originals, centuries of vampirism has made her violent, manipulative, and a little twisted.  
><strong>

**Thanks for all your kind reviews, they really make my day!**


	7. 1114 AD - Part 1

**Title**:If I Die Young

**Disclaimer:** Anything TO or TVD related belong to the CW

_**A/N: This section takes place in the 1100s, one century after the Originals were turned. TVD 4x04 has flashbacks to this time period with Alexander and the Brotherhood of the Five, so obviously this is my take on how the story would have played out with Caroline inserted in. I'm praying that this section sticks to the outline and there are only three chapters. Lord help me. **_

_**Friendly reminder that while I did my fair share of research into the time period and its customs, I did not dedicate hours of of my life to making sure every minute detail is correct. I want to make this story feel real, in that no one is dropping a 'that's what she said' joke into 12th century Italy. Beyond that, you'll have to let your suspension of disbelief take it away. Watching the TVD scenes should help get you in the mood.**_

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><p><strong>1114 A.D – Part 1<strong>

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><p>The smell of perfume and wine was a seductive combination hanging in the air all around her, made sweeter by the delicious taste of blood in her mouth and the rocking of her hips below. Klaus grabbed those hips, urging them to move faster over him, but Caroline would not give in. The slow and sensual pace she'd set was her preference for tonight, and he would just have to lay back and enjoy. She pulled his hands off her, pining them to the mattress above his head.<p>

"Most women would not think to be so bold with their husbands," Klaus warned her, using more than a little bit of his strength to try to roll her off.

Caroline pushed back, "I am not most women."

She let the blood rush to her face and her fangs descend to prove her point. The sight only inflamed his lust more, which had been her intention all along.

"Indeed you are not."

They both groaned as she struck at his neck, fangs biting into flesh as she drank from him again. Human blood was intoxicating, powerful, and irresistible. But Klaus' blood was something else entirely. Feeding from him was nothing like drinking from a human. It was not feeding, it was embracing. It didn't give her power it gave her a connection. Something she desperately needed to feel these days.

And it had the added advantage of igniting both of their passions.

They had mastered the art of lovemaking between them long ago. A century together had not dulled their need for each other. On the contrary, all awkwardness and uncertainty had been washed away, replaced by a deep sense of trust and knowing. Klaus knew exactly where to touch her to make her legs shake uncontrollably, and Caroline could have him ready for her with only a few strokes of her tongue. So familiar were they with each others' bodies by now. It was how Klaus knew that his bite would be the exact thing she needed to move this along.

His fangs in her shoulder caused her to throw her head back and gasp his name.

Caroline finally began to move faster, his blood on her lips making it impossible to maintain her slow rocking. She heard him groan in approval, and his hips rose to meet hers steadily. She leaned back to watch him moving in and out of her, still entranced by the sight after all this time. The new angle let him sink deeper inside of her, and she cried out, her pleasure building to its inevitable end. She felt herself clenching around him, seeking to pull him in even deeper if that were possible, and that was the final straw for Klaus. Both hands on her hips, he yanked her onto him, thrusting up powerfully again and again. He roared as he finished, but she could not hear him over her own pleasured screams.

Breathless and sweat-soaked, she collapsed onto his chest. "Do you think we woke them?" she asked laughingly.

"We would be lucky if we didn't wake the humans down in the kitchens, my love," he chuckled back. "Our family's keen sense of hearing ensures that they most definitely heard us as well."

"Bekah will never let us hear the end of it," Caroline sighed, rolling off of him and pulling the sheets up around their naked bodies.

Klaus only rolled his eyes and traced his fingers over her bare skin. "She is promiscuous enough for the both of us, she has no room for complaint."

That was true. Rebekah did not shy away from suitors, or from letting them into her bed. Such was the sexual freedom of a woman unable to be controlled by men. They had all found very soon after their change that the values and customs of the human world were all but irrelevant to them. They could not be bound by something as trivial as human law, so human tradition seemed almost... frivolous. At least, that was how Caroline and Klaus had justified ignoring her previous marriage in favor of their new one. Likewise, Rebekah had reveled in her untameable nature after they set off from home, and her brothers had let her. There was really no alternative when nothing could kill or hold and Original. Freedom was a given.

And each of them had exercised that freedom in their own way over the years. Elijah was perhaps the most unchanged of them all. Not one for theatrics or showing off, he did not kill as he pleased or wield his powers extravagantly. Moderation was his staple, and he used it to attempt to keep their existence a secret. Fearing what humans and witches would do if they found out about vampires, he made it his mission to protect his family from outside forces. A noble cause, but one that his siblings did not share. Kol, the troublesome little miscreant, had no control whatsoever. His mischief had quickly turned to malice, and for decades he had been gallivanting around Europe on his own. They would hear tales of entire districts wiped out by a fanged monster and roll their eyes at their brother's antics. He had always been prone to overindulgence, but lately it was becoming a problem.

Finn, however, did not take advantage of his gifts in the same way. For the first few years, he enjoyed the hunt as much as the rest of them. He had been the first to figure out how to turn humans into one of their own, in fact. His lover Sage had required healing and consumed his blood, but she'd died shortly thereafter. Imagine their surprise when she seized to life a few hours later with a craving for blood. But even with Sage's eternal companionship, Finn was despondent and taciturn too often these days. He chose not to feed and allowed himself to become ravenous. A worrying sort of behavior, and one that Elijah would need to step in and rectify soon.

Shaking her head, Caroline cast the thoughts of her siblings from her head, choosing instead to sink into her husband's embrace for the night. It seemed Klaus had other plans though. All too soon, he lifted his arm from around her and sat up to root around for his pants. Finding them on the other side of the room, he left the bed and had them on in a flash, pulling his overcoat on as well.

"Going somewhere?" Caroline asked in confusion.

"It seems you worked up quite an appetite in me," he grinned. "I'm off to the kitchens."

Caroline frowned. "We have plenty of food," she nodded to table that stood at the foot of their bed, piled high with bread and fruit.

"I've a taste for something a bit stronger, my dear."

"We have blood too," she reasoned. They'd bled a few of the maids into their wine glasses earlier, compelling them to remember nothing of the slightly odd request. There was still half a pitcher full waiting to be consumed.

Klaus sighed, irritated now. "Old blood," he complained, "From hours ago. You know I prefer it fresh from the vein."

Yes, she knew that. It was a constant source of frustration for both her and Elijah. They seemed to be the only sensible two in the group, the others determined to feast and feed to their hearts content. They'd had to re-staff their household three times since arriving here. Maids and kitchen boys and stable hands went missing nearly every week. Sometimes in droves. They'd talked about discretion. About control. Klaus wanted none of it. He enjoyed being feared, and to some degree, Caroline could understand. She was no saint. The bloodlust won out more often than not, and she'd added her fair share of bodies to the pile too. The thrill of the hunt set in and sometimes there was just no holding it back. Restraint was such a chore sometimes. But that did not mean she was incapable. Out of all of her siblings she was perhaps the most controlled. It was why she and Elijah got on so well these days. His respect for human life paired with her ability to rein in the cravings to form a formidable alliance.

An alliance, which Klaus resented.

"Don't give me that look," he groaned. "I tire of your judgment, Caroline."

"It is not judgment, it is concern," she tried to explain. "Mikael is still out there, and there are new reports of vampire hunters swarming the city every day. We need to be careful-"

"To what end?" Klaus argued. "There is nothing in this world that can kill us, and any man that would try will be swiftly cut down. We are gods among men, my love. Start acting like it."

He turned and strode out of the room then, all huffed up with anger. No doubt they would need a new kitchen girl tomorrow. Caroline wrapped the sheets tighter around her body as she pulled herself from the bed. Rifling through one of her trunks, she lifted out something that she had not looked at in years. A small treasure box, filled with things she'd smuggled out of their first home, things she'd picked up on their travels, and things she knew Klaus would not enjoy knowing she had. And at the very bottom, her most prized possession.

Nearly a whole century later, Niklaus' first drawing of her remained intact, if a little faded. She barely recognized herself, so carefree and joyous was her expression on the page. That girl was a stranger to her now. Innocent and lovely, incapable of taking a life or committing a real sin. There were hints of her still, to be sure, but Caroline was finding it harder and harder to remember. Even more distant was the man who had drawn it. Niklaus grew more bloodthirsty every day. He relished his new power, and used it to inspire fear wherever they went. He'd become a master of manipulation over the years, and his cruelty seemed to stem from that. He claimed it was to keep them out of Mikael's grasp, but Caroline knew better. It was easy enough to see how he thrived on the terror of his victims. How it made him feel strong. The power was seductive, she supposed, for someone who had spent his formative years being degraded and pushed around.

Vampirism made Niklaus brave, and she could not begrudge him that.

But she could worry about him.

It was not only the killing that concerned her. His personality changed piece by piece too. There had been an innocence about him, back in that village of theirs. He had been a boy who cared deeply for his family, and would never have spoken a truly harsh word to her. But these days… he snapped at her over the smallest things. He delighted in pain and torture, and he rarely sketched anymore. The man he had been was slowly slipping away, and he was turning into someone Caroline did not recognize.

And worse, someone she did not know she could love.

Hearing a distant scream, no doubt coming from the kitchens, Caroline squeezed her eyes shut tight. The yelps were quickly cut off, and the silence of the night returned.

Caroline placed the drawing back in her box of keepsakes, tucking the treasure back into the recesses of the trunk. Niklaus need never know that she had these things, or that she yearned to return to a time when they were still within reach.

* * *

><p>Less than a week later, these so called hunters were publicly burning vampires in the town square.<p>

Klaus sighed at the spectacle. He could not decide if he wanted to drain their leader dry, or skin him alive to hang the artful tattoos on his wall. The gruesome idea gave him pause. Every now and then, he found his thoughts to be darker and more violent than he intended. When the guilt chewed at him, as it very rarely did these days, he found it easy enough to blame Mikael. His father's monstrous abuse and disregard for human life was surely what had caused him to turn away from his own humanity. What else could it be?

Yes, Mikael was to blame for all of it, and he could not be held too responsible for whatever dreadful fate awaited these vampire hunters.

"He is putting on quite the show," Elijah remarked of the hunter's leader, Alexander, as the burned out husk of their captured vampire's corpse smoldered in front of them.

"He is nothing," Klaus denied. "I could eat him for sport."

His brother would not be ignored though. "Still, you should heed the warning. Between you here and Kol in the East, you have not been discreet."

"Am I to starve myself like Finn then?"

"No, but caution would be advised," Elijah's disapproval rang through every word.

Klaus scoffed at the idea. "Why would we need to be cautious? We have rings that protect us from the sun, no wooden stake can kill us and even the vervain which they think so toxic to our kind cannot keep up weakened for long. They are nothing, Elijah. Easily beaten and quickly eaten."

"They are not my main concern," Elijah continued. "There are dozens more where they came from, and it is the direct result of your obscene body count. Stories of the Original Vampires are spreading."

"I welcome such infamy," Klaus smirked. "But if you're worried about discretion, perhaps you should wrangle our sister."

They both turned to find Rebekah in the company of the very man in question. Alexander leaned down to press a kiss to her hand, and their sister blushed and smiled like it was the quaintest thing in the world. Like she hadn't seen the same charms played out a hundred times. Really, how these human men managed to woo Rebekah over again and again, when they should have been nothing but food was a mystery to Klaus.

But where he saw an opportunity for mockery, Elijah saw danger.

Rather than chastising Rebekah for her choice of courtship, Elijah decided that their afternoon meal should add one extra guest at the table.

"I am unaccustomed to such luxury," Alexander bumbled his way around the fine meal they had provided for him.

"Well, it's the least we could do to repay you for opening our eyes to the truth," Elijah smiled kindly at him, pouring more wine. "We're curious to hear more about your order. Your crusade."

Klaus could barely contain his devious grin. Elijah, for all his pretenses of nobility, wielded his manners like sword. The appearance of such a proper gentlemen was hard to resist for many of these foreigners. After plying the boy with drink and food, Elijah was finally setting in on the topic they most needed to discuss. This band of brothers that Alexander had formed needed to be stopped. What better way to accomplish this goal than to pose as benefactors to his cause?

Alexander seemed happy to share. "We are but five men. Bound by fire in the last breath of a dying witch to a single cause. The destruction of all vampires."

The whelp had the nerve to toast them as he revealed the truth that they already knew. Well, that last bit about the dying witch was new – and a bit worrisome. He exchanged knowing looks with Rebekah, and she nodded silently. It would be her task to find out more about the witch and what she had done to the five men commissioned to eradicate the race they'd only just begun to build.

"And how do you hope to achieve this?" Klaus asked curiously.

"We have the ultimate weapon," Alexander stated as if it were common knowledge. "Which no vampire can survive."

Elijah stroked his chin as if this weapon was the most intriguing thing in the world, but Klaus could not play along. There was nothing stopping him from putting Alexander down right here and now. Damn this weapon of his to hell, it would be useless with no one to wield it. Klaus was just picking up his knife, ready to throw it with precise speed and direction between the hunter's eyes, when a delighted laugh broke the tension at the table.

In the small courtyard to their left, Caroline played rambunctiously with the servants' children. Tiny kitchen boys and servant girls scurried all around her fine skirts as she ran blindfolded through the shrubbery. Every now and then, she would get close to grabbing one of them, only to have them slip surely out of her grasp. Klaus found his lips turning up at the sight. With her advanced senses, Caroline could surely hear and smell exactly where the little beasts were. But she knew to catch them would be to spoil the game, as children always did love uniting against an adult for sport. So she let them carry on, winding in and out of her path, never quite quick enough to catch them.

In truth, this little game of hers reminded Klaus of their own childhood. Caroline the center of attention and mischief, and him watching from a distance. The only difference now was that he was not watching to make sure she hadn't broken her neck or started a fire somehow. Strangely enough, even one hundred years later, Caroline had managed to keep a small bit of innocence and cheer about her. It was refreshing, if he was honest.

"Niklaus?" Elijah's voice broke through his haze.

"Hmm?" he focused back on their conversation, trying to appear as if he hadn't been rudely ignoring them all.

Elijah turned to their guest with apologies, "You'll have to excuse my brother, dear friend. He caught sight of his beautiful wife and became distracted. Please tell us more about this weapon?"

"I'm afraid I cannot," Alexander shook his head in refusal. "It is the secret that our witch passed to us with her last breath, and it cannot be shared with anyone outside of the order. You can rest assured though, with this weapon, we shall protect the human race. It is our sacred mission."

Elijah and Rebekah smiled at him, but Klaus could see the bitterness in those lovely faces. This weapon scared them. Klaus was less intimidated. No matter what it was, what its purpose, nothing could be stronger than the dark magic their mother had used to make them immortal. Nothing in a century had been able to end their lives or age them at all. This weapon would be no different.

Still, caution was advised, just as Elijah said. Rebekah's fondness for the hunter would come in handy, no doubt. She would be the one to uncover this weapon's location and purpose. If she did not, then they would simply have to wipe out the order entirely and let them take the secret to their graves. Elijah would need to head up the search for information within the brotherhood. He was eldest and therefore the sole benefactor for this order of hunters. They would believe him when he showed interest in their plans; rich men liked to know where their money was heading after all. Klaus himself would need to look into the witchcraft aspect of it all. Barring Kol, Klaus typically had the best luck persuading witches to join their side of things. Maybe one or two in the countryside could illuminate what spell had been cast on these hunters to make them so confident of their abilities.

Looking over to where Caroline still played, Klaus debated what her role in all of this would be. She was a weapon to be wielded, to be sure, just like all the others. And yet a hint of doubt kept him from using her in the fashion that he knew would be most useful. Disregarding his extreme distaste over the idea of her seducing one of the hunters like Bekah, the situation might not be as harmless as he hoped it to be. God forbid he send her in to spy on a warrior that actually possessed something that could kill her.

No, Caroline would be kept out of it. She need not even know that there was a weapon at all. Let her believe that they were staying close to the hunters to keep up their ruse of humanity. She would be far more content on her own anyways.

* * *

><p>The Italian sun beat down on her neck unbearably, but there was nothing to be done about it. The lakeside had no shade to speak of, and Caroline could really only be thankful that her ring protected her from its burning heat. Isolation was necessary for a task like this.<p>

She marked the movement of the sun's shadow as the afternoon dragged on, wondering if she was being missed back at home. Probably not. Her siblings were out more often than not these days, leaving her to her own devices. Normally she would appreciate that solitude. Being eternally linked with the most infuriating family in history would drive anyone mad, and they all seemed to live on top of each other even in their grand estates and mansions. Family was truly bothersome at times. But never so bothersome as when they were playing a game that was being shrouded from her. Their late night discussions and extended hours away had not gone unnoticed by Caroline, and yet they all refused to enlighten her to whatever plan they were cooking up.

It was infuriating and more than a little worrying, so Caroline had devised a new method of dealing with this little problem.

As she reached into the water to wipe the cool liquid over the back of her neck, her previously silent young guest woke with a start, gasping and spluttering.

"Welcome back," Caroline smiled down at the girl.

Predictably, the servant scampered back out of her reach. It always happened this way. "You-you…" the girl stuttered and stammered, "You killed me!"

"Nonsense. You're talking to me at this very moment, how could I have killed you?"

"I…" the poor girl seemed to be terribly confused with it all. "Your face. It was monstrous."

Caroline nodded solemnly, "Yes, I suppose it was."

Looking over her new progeny, Caroline surveyed the soon-to-be vampire. She was gorgeous, which was precisely the reason Caroline had chosen her. Beautiful women always had a way of acquiring what they wanted, even in the most difficult situations. Her tanned skin betrayed her low birth, but it also created quite an exotic look about her. A true child of the Mediterranean. Dark wavy hair completed the picture, and once she was picked up and dusted off, she would be stunning. The perfect spy.

Rising up from her position on the lake's edge, Caroline brushed her skirts out and adjusted her hair. The sun would be setting soon, which was precisely what she needed. It did however put a timeline on this little trip of hers. Klaus tended to get antsy when he lost track of her for too long, and she needed to avoid his suspicion at all costs.

"Can you tell me your name, sweet girl?" Caroline asked.

After a few moments and darted eyes, the servant seemed to remember her place and answered in the same demure tone she'd always used with Caroline before today. "Francesca, milady."

"Francesca is beautiful name, I envy you for it," Caroline extended her hand to the girl, offering to help her up off the ground. Hesitantly, Francesca took it and rose to her feet. Caroline could see her debating what had happened in her head, wondering if she'd perhaps gone insane. "I imagine you're feeling hungry, Francesca?"

Recognition lit up in her eyes at once as she realized that yes, she did feel overwhelmingly hungry. "Yes, milady."

"Well then," Caroline walked over the horse she'd left at the lake's edge and pulled out a small vial of human blood she'd brought along. "You'll need to drink this as soon as the sun goes down. Shouldn't be long now. And after that, we're going to have a very special talk, you and I."

"Milady please," Francesca pleaded. "I do not understand you. Why are we here? What's happened?"

Caroline sighed. This was always the worst part. "What's happened is I've turned you into a vampire, dear girl. I took you from the kitchens, fed you my blood, drained your pretty little neck, and brought you out here to turn. Those monsters you hear about from the stories in town? That is you now."

Francesca's lip wobbled and fear caused her to shake, "A monster?"

"Oh don't be so sad, it's not all tragic. You'll have speed and strength, and you'll live forever with your eternal youth and beauty, which is stunning I might say," Caroline ran a finger down the girl's cheek, and she could see her compliments take hold in the responding blush. Flattery always did work best on the weak minded. The news that she would be a monster for eternity was nothing compared to a highborn Lady calling her beautiful. "I've given you a gift, Francesca, because I need your help. Do you think that's a fair trade?"

"My help?" Francesca asked, wide eyed. "But how could I ever help you?"

"Well," Caroline paced back and forth, "My husband is keeping something from me. You remember my husband I'm sure? Perhaps with a bit more clarity than usual?"

She waited for the servant to concentrate on her memories of Klaus. It was only a few moments before her eyes widened even more, shock and fear coloring her features. No doubt quite a few memories to do with fangs and blood and terror had made their way back to her. Francesca began to shake horribly, the pain and fear rushing through her veins. That was not what Caroline needed. She needed focus and determination.

"Enough," she snapped, getting the girl to look at her. "I don't mean to be rude, but I have a rather important task for you to handle. My husband is determined to keep secrets from me, so I need someone to keep an eye on him. Someone who can be silent and swift and undetectable. That is why I turned you, Francesca."

Francesca shook her head, "I-I can't-"

"You can and you will," Caroline ordered, "Or you will not get any of this." She held up the vial of blood that would complete Francesca's transition. "If you do not drink it tonight, you will be dead by morning. For good this time."

The servant's eyes shifted to the blood in Caroline's hands, then down to the slope of the hill beside the lake. Finally, they darted back up to the horse that stood waiting behind them. Watching the wheels spin in Francesca's head was a welcome surprise. The girl was actually considering grabbing the blood, pushing Caroline down into the ravine, and riding off with her horse. She'd thought she'd turned a meager kitchen girl with no distinguishable intelligence or nerve. Instead, it seemed that Francesca was a great deal more intuitive than she'd thought. How interesting. How useful.

Francesca rushed forward to make her move, but Caroline caught her around the neck, holding her back. "Ah, ah, ah," Caroline warned, using her considerable strength to hold Francesca in place. "You cannot beat me darling, you can only join me. So why don't we make this all so much easier? Do we have deal?"

"Witch!" Francesca screamed at her.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "No, not a witch. A vampire. Try to keep up, please."

Francesca struggled for a bit longer, but her body was still human for the most part and she realized that soon enough. With a deep frown, Francesca mumbled out, "We have a deal, milady."

"Lovely!" Caroline cheered, keeping her hold on the girl. "And since you're so very eager…"

Caroline opened the vial, pulled Francesca closer, and dumped the contents down her throat before she could utter a word. The small mouthful of blood worked its magic, as it always did, and red veins ran up Francesca's face and into her eyes. Fangs descended, and Caroline watched the euphoria of the first taste take hold. Of all the things she had forgotten in her hundred years, this change was not one of them. It never would be. The power rushing through your body, the senses rushing back to you as if you'd been blind, deaf, and dumb for all your years before. The incredible need to gorge yourself for days.

On cue, Francesca tore at her grip, "More," the girl demanded fiercely.

"We shall get you more," Caroline promised. "Much more. But first, it's time for our talk."

* * *

><p>Swaying the girl to her side had been easy enough.<p>

Caroline now had a spy in the house, and it was only a matter of keeping Francesca's true nature a secret from everyone else. Her shift in the kitchens was at night, and she slept during the day, which had made her an ideal candidate for transition in the first place. A quick bit of compulsion to keep Francesca from feeding without Caroline's permission took care of the rest.

Now all Caroline had to do was wait for her to overhear something she shouldn't have.

"And where have you been all day?" Klaus' voice carried across the stone courtyard to her.

Caroline stopped short, grimacing at being caught. "Just out by the lake," she answered innocently.

"Really now?" he gave her a doubtful look, and she did her best to keep a straight face. Lying had been one of the many art forms she'd mastered over the years, and yet somehow lying to Klaus had never been so easy. He always seemed to know somehow when she was being dishonest.

"Yes, I took Callum for a ride," Caroline weaved as much truth as she could into the story. A nice horse ride to the lake was her alibi, never mind the dead body that had accompanied her. "You, Elijah, and Rebekah spend so much time out and about these days, I have no one to entertain me. And even Callum makes for better conversation than Finn these days."

Klaus laughed at her joke, distracted easily enough by a jab at his least favorite brother. "Too true."

He extended a hand to her, and she took it gratefully. Together they strolled out of the courtyard and into the gardens. The torches and lanterns lit the space beautifully, and the whole thing was rather romantic. It was a nice surprise for her, as Klaus had taken less and less to these kind of simple activities these days. Lazy afternoons and tender evenings were coming further apart as he dedicated himself to this cause or that. She soaked it in while she could.

"What did you do with your afternoon?" Caroline asked, hoping to get a little honesty from him, if he was in the mood.

Klaus avoided her gaze though, as usual. "Rebekah and I spent the day with her new paramour. He's an imbecile, but she seems to care for him."

"Doesn't she always?" Caroline laughed softly. She tried not to feel hurt by the lie he had just told. She'd seen Klaus' horse saddled for a day trip in the early morning, meaning he'd gone much farther than the abbey across town where Alexander and his brothers were residing. He might have even left the province for all she knew. But like a good wife - and a good liar - Caroline ignored it. Francesca would find out what he was up to soon enough. "I trust that you at least _tried_ to be polite?"

"I tried very hard, indeed," Klaus smiled down at her, stopping their walk to sit them on stone bench. "I do hate to fail, but there was nothing to be done about it."

Caroline rolled her eyes, but laughed along with him. This was the Niklaus she remembered and loved. Funny and sharp witted, sharing in a private joke with her under the stars as he lovingly stroked her face. The whole thing seemed cheapened when she remembered that it was built on a lie.

"These men aren't dangerous to us, are they, Nik?" she gave him one last opportunity to tell the truth. Whatever he was up to it had something to do with Alexander and his order, she was sure of it. If only he would share his burden with her.

Klaus looked deeply into her eyes and kissed her lips softly. "No danger at all, my love."

More lies.

She smiled, but even she could tell that it did not look genuine. To add insult to injury, Niklaus did not even seem to recognize that her smile was insincere. What had they come to? Lying and hiding from each other. So distant and out of step. There had been a time when she could pick Niklaus' heartbeat out of a crowd, simply by the way it sped up at the sight of her. He had been able to decipher every tilt of her lips and catch of her breath, instantly knowing what she needed and why. How could they be growing apart after all this time? How could she be losing him?

A snapping branch and loud groan broke through their moment, and they looked over to the source of the commotion. A drunkard had hopped their wall, probably looking for food or money or whatever it was inebriated men looked for in their muddled minds. The tattered man stumbled through the bushes, paying them no mind. Caroline stood up to call for one of the servants to escort him out, but Klaus stopped her.

He grinned widely, a manic kind of pleasure sweeping into his eyes. "No need for that. I was feeling peckish anyway, and he'll make for a perfect meal."

Klaus was on the man in an instant, fangs in his neck and hand covering his mouth to muffle the screams.

Caroline watched him feed with a hopeless frown on her face. Her own bloodlust rose up at the sight, but she pushed it back down. This was why they'd lost touch with each other. Their desire for blood outweighed their desire for each other. The desire to love and be loved. That must have been it. The thrill of the hunt and the kill satisfied Klaus more than anything else in the world these days. Even her.

With a sad shake of her head, Caroline left him to his meal.

Vampirism had ruined them. But there was no going back now.

* * *

><p><strong>I think it's fairly easy to predict where this is going...<strong>

**We'll see more scenes from the TVD flashbacks next chapter. Sadly, Kol was not included in the 1100s flashbacks because he was gallivanting around Asia apparently. I think it would be very fitting that he'd leave the family behind to head off on his own. Klaus doesn't have the daggers yet to keep his siblings from leaving, and Kol would understandably want to get away from Caroline and Klaus every now and then when the awkwardness set in. He will never be bitter over their affair, but he will always be a bit uncomfortable with it. Hence his tendency to turn it into a joke more often than not :) But just because Kol wasn't around for the most part during the time period, that doesn't mean we won't see him soon...**

**Thank you so much to those of you who leave reviews. I love them all! **


	8. 1114 AD - Part 2

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything TVD or TO related belong to The CW

_**A/N: This Italy section is actually super fun. I like bending these character out of the shapes I created them in. 100 years is long enough to make anyone a monster, and I love that even Caroline became hardened and manipulative, even if she does miss the days when they were all human. Klaus of course is drunk on power and immortality, which is about to come to a screeching halt ;)**_

* * *

><p><strong>1114 A.D - Part 2<strong>

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for Caroline's investment in Francesca to pay off.<p>

Three weeks after her turn exactly, Caroline found a note from Francesca under her pillow asking for a meeting in the kitchens. Well, she assumed that's what the intention was, but she'd only taught Francesca how to write three words. _'Kitchen'_, _'Blood'_, and "_Caught_" were really the only things that Caroline could concern herself with as far as her new vampire went. Convincing Klaus that she was simply going to take a nip from one of the staff was easy enough. He did it all the time after all. She took a single candle with her, racing down the halls and into the back storage room where Francesca was waiting.

"Where have you been? I am nearly starving!" Francesca asked impertinently. Caroline raised one eyebrow at her tone, and the girl lowered her eyes in contrition. "Forgive me, milady. The hunger, it makes me say things."

"Oh, I know," Caroline sighed. "The first few weeks are always the hardest. You must not allow your emotions to get the best of you though. Do you understand?"

Francesca nodded obediently, "Yes, milady. Forgive me."

The girl raised her eyes and looked at Caroline as if she were her savior incarnated, and Caroline thought not for the first time that it was so much easier this way. Turning a servant and compelling or bullying them was a recipe for disaster. You ended up with an underling who was either constantly plotting their escape or too intimidated to perform their duties correctly. But over the short course of her undead life, Francesca had come to love Caroline. A soft touch and a sympathetic ear had worked wonders, and the girl would probably jump in front of a sword for her sire if necessary. The empty promise of a daylight ring had not hurt her cause either.

"So tell me," Caroline started, making sure to keep her voice at a whisper. "What have you found?"

Francesca's eyes lit up, "It's not so much what I've found, but what I've heard."

Caroline sat with her, listening to the girl prattle on about her evening and what she'd been doing and how she'd come to be where. It was all a rather long-winded version of events, but being too eager or too demanding would not serve either of them well. Francesca could not know how desperately Caroline needed the information, lest she start to get ideas about negotiating, and the girl's loyalty was most easily won by compassion and understanding instead of barked orders to hurry up.

"...but instead of going inside for the sunrise, I stayed out a bit longer, and that's when I heard them."

"Heard whom?" Caroline asked politely. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

"Lady Rebekah and her new friend. The handsome one. Alexander," Francesca whispered, scandalized. "He was sneaking out the front door early in the morning, as if he'd stayed the whole night!"

Caroline sighed in aggravation. Honestly, if the girl thought that Rebekah's sexual escapades were what she was looking for... "That is hardly groundbreaking dear, you'll have to look a bit harder next time."

"No, no, milday, that wasn't the important part," Francesca grabbed her arm to keep her from standing up. "They were speaking softly, but I listened in from afar, like you taught me."

"And what did they say?" Caroline questioned.

Francesca smiled deviously, "I only caught a few words here and there - I'm still learning, you know - but they were talking about vampires. Alexander is some sort of hunter, I think."

"Yes, we know this, he burns them alive in the town square. Rebekah keeps him close to ward off suspicion."

"But he said something to her before he left. Something I think you'll find _very_ interesting," Francesca smiled. The girl certainly did know how to build up to a moment.

"Well then?" Caroline tried not to betray her eagerness. "Tell me."

The two words Francesca whispered next changed Caroline's life in immeasurable ways. She made the girl repeat them twice, just to ensure she was hearing correctly. For Francesca's loyalty and her incredible information gathering skills, Caroline took her to the stables that night. She let the girl drink her fill from two of the stable hands, healing them up and compelling them afterwards to remember nothing. Then, she turned Franscesca out. She compelled every memory of any Original vampire away from her, giving her new ones to fill in the gaps. The story was one of a benevolent sire, a man so infatuated with Francesca that he'd turned the poor servant girl on the spot and then given his life to allow her to escape from a group of hunters. Very romantic. That night, Francesca journeyed out into the world with memories of love and heartbreak masking the truth. And a strange urge to never set foot on Italian soil ever again.

Climbing back into bed with Klaus that evening, Caroline apologized for their missing servant girl, telling her husband that she'd lost control for a moment and killed the poor creature. It was no matter, they'd find another.

* * *

><p>On the night that the Original family stopped being a family, Klaus was in surprisingly good spirits.<p>

The dinner table was set, Alexander was invited to supper, Finn had finally started feeding again, and his latest gift for Caroline had just arrived earlier that day.

He had not been blind to his wife's unhappiness lately, no matter how much he tried to ignore the guilt that crept into his stomach every time he saw her glum face. He'd hoped that it would simply pass on its own, and she would return to being the carefree, blissfully in love girl he enjoyed so much. It would have made his life less complicated at least. But his wife was unhappy and an unhappy wife made for an unhappy home. So he'd commissioned a gift for her to raise her spirits and to show her that this tension between them would not last. Remembering how much she'd loved his first gift to her all those years ago, a token of his affection had seemed like a good idea. Her seventeenth name day was a fond memory for both of them. The small horse carving had taken him weeks to complete, he'd had to start over so many times. But the look on her face when he'd presented it to her had been priceless. Her eyes had shone with love and happiness, and she'd practically knocked him over when she'd thrown herself into his arms. They'd spent the rest of the day laughing and kissing and moaning, caught up in each other as only young lovers can be.

So with a similar mind, Klaus had commissioned a dress of the finest red silks be made to her exact measurements. The thread was dipped in gold, and small pearls were sown into the bodice for embellishment. A dress like this would normally have taken months to complete, but he'd compelled the dressmaker to work around the clock until it was finished. And the product of his hard work now resided in their rooms, the picture of beauty and elegance.

Catching sight of his lovely wife, he rushed at her, picking her up in his arms and spinning her around.

"Nik, what on earth?" Caroline laughed softly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to keep from tipping over.

He cut her off soundly with a kiss. The servants setting up their banquet feast giggled at the display of affection, but kept their eyes on their task. A young man and his beautiful wife were prone to kiss, and if they wanted to gawk and stare it would be on their own heads. Klaus pulled away and set Caroline down eventually, though he kept his arms wrapped around her.

"I have a gift for you, my love," he murmured against the skin of her cheek. "An apology for my behavior lately. Can you forgive me?"

Caroline pulled back to look him in the eye. There was his girl. Hope and love shone from her face, and he could see her clear as day. The girl who'd snuck off to the caves with him for hours at a time. The girl who'd protected him at all costs. The girl who reveled in their nature just as much as he did. The wife who would be by his side forever. His love for her overwhelmed him, as it often did, and he swooped down to kiss her again.

"What's gotten into you?" Caroline giggled against his lips.

He just continued to trail kisses down her neck. "Can't a man dote on his wife?" Klaus smiled at her, but she just narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Very well then, I suppose you don't want your gift. I'll just toss it into the lake then, shall I?

"No!" Caroline grabbed him as he pulled away. "Show me."

Her smile was beatific, and he could see she was excited for whatever he had in store for her. Klaus grabbed her by the hand and dragged her up the stairs to their room. Suddenly, they were children again, running and laughing as if they had not a care in the world. Caroline's moodiness of the last few weeks evaporated, and she was once again the woman he loved. He had known this was the proper solution.

When they reached the room, Klaus looped behind her and covered her eyes. They stumbled their way into their suite, laughing as they nearly took a spill, and he turned her to the corner where her new dress hung against the wall. Slowly, he uncovered her eyes and peeked around to watch her face. It lit up as she caught sight of her gift, and she rushed forward to take the fabric in her hands.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Caroline cooed over the garment. "It must have cost you a fortune."

"We have a fortune, love. Many fortunes, as many as we can compel for ourselves. And I would spend them all to see you smile."

Caroline turned to him, her eyes a little dimmer, but her smile no less enthusiastic. "Where is the artist behind this masterpiece? I must thank him for such an exquisite piece of work. It will be the talk of the entire town by the end of the month!"

"Oh he's expired I'm afraid," Klaus waved off the request, focusing instead on her jubilation.

Caroline frowned. "What do you mean, expired?"

"Well," he sighed, "I compelled the man to make it under two weeks, so he was understandably exhausted when he delivered it today. The poor fool about dropped dead in the middle of the foyer, so I put him out of his misery. Now the dress will be one of a kind. Priceless. Just like you, Caroline."

Klaus pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He was so busy admiring the dress that he barely registered how tense she was in the embrace, or how her jaw locked in place, no longer smiling or laughing. He kissed her quickly on the cheek, letting her go and heading towards the door. There was still a dinner to see to, and a hunter to welcome. With any luck, Rebekah would find out about this fatal weapon of The Five tonight, and the headache would be over. Maybe they'd go north next. A summer by the sea?

"Wear that tonight, why don't you?" Klaus suggested as he lingered in the doorway. "I relish the look on Rebekah's face when she sees you wrapped up in so much finery. We'll be lucky if she doesn't explode with envy."

He laughed all the way down the stairs, picturing how perfect the night would be. There was no feeling of dread like there should have been from his finely honed instincts. No hint that tonight would put him on a course for suffering and loneliness, lasting longer than he could possibly imagine.

* * *

><p>Dinner was a lively affair.<p>

Rebekah tried to spill wine on Caroline's new dress, and Klaus nearly drove a fork through her hand for the attempt. Elijah jumped to the rescue, distracting Alexander from the cutlery attack by inquiring after his brotherhood of hunters. Apparently they were out of town for the week. Even better. Eventually they had music and a bit of dancing, before Alexander thanked them and left. Klaus rolled his eyes at the boy. As if they couldn't all hear him scaling the walls to Rebekah's room a few minutes later and the subsequent moaning and groaning that took place next.

He spent a long while on the front balcony that night. Looking over the small piece of land they'd carved out as their own the past few years.

Mikael had hunted them down endlessly in the new world, and there had not been nearly enough settlements or cities there to hide from him. They'd barely lasted a decade before the decision had been made to flee back to the old world, where they might more easily blend in with society and lose themselves in the anonymity of the masses. They had neither seen nor heard from Mikael since, and Klaus had begun to think that they were truly free of him. And now this brotherhood sought to end their kind with a meager mortal weapon? Ridiculous.

Closing his eyes, he extended his senses to listen in on Rebekah and Alexander. It had already been weeks since she'd started on him, and honestly the joke was wearing thin. If she didn't seduce the answer out of him soon, Klaus would slaughter the lot of these hunters and be done with it. Listening carefully, he realized that there were none of the usual sounds coming from Rebekah's room. Not the tussle of sheets or the whispered promises of lovers. It was only silence, broken by the heavy breathing of a full grown man. Alexander. That was not alarming. What was alarming was that he could hear no such sounds of breath from Rebekah. Even creatures who could not die needed to breath, but his sister was silent as the grave.

Panicking, he shoved himself back from the balconies edge, tearing down the hallway towards his sister's room. He was distracted however, when he stumbled on the body of his beloved brother Elijah, strewn out in the middle of the hallway.

"Elijah!" Klaus rushed to his side, turning him over.

Shock and fear surged through him to see his brother's face grey with death. His blackened veins stood out starkly against pale skin, and no matter how Klaus shook him, Elijah would not wake. Looking to his chest, Klaus noticed that a silver dagger protruded from Elijah's heart. That didn't make sense. Only wood could put them down this way, and never for long. As he was about to yank the knife out, he felt a piercing pain through his back, straight into his heart.

"Die, monster," a male voice whispered in his ear.

One of The Five. He recognized the man's appalling scent immediately. That realization washed away however, when his senses started to fade quickly from him all at once. The room grew darker, the scents fainter, and even the feel of the stone beneath his knees seemed far, far away. The blood turned to ice in his veins, and he sucked in a great breath, desperately clinging to life. This was how an Original died, he thought, as it all drifted away. They'd underestimated the weapon that these hunters possessed, and now his entire family would die for it. A century of power and experienced, snuffed out in one strike.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, Klaus felt a sudden surge of strength. The kind he had not experienced since that cursed night that his mother had bound his wolf inside of him. The monster reared up, and a scream tore from his throat. One of anger and aggression. The wolf would not be put down by something so meager as a silver knife.

Klaus spun around and grabbed the hunter who'd stabbed him, wrapping his hand around the man's throat tightly.

"How…" the hunter choked out, astonished to find Klaus still breathing apparently.

"I'm a different kind of monster," Klaus growled.

He tore into the hunter's neck then, drinking down every last drop of blood the man had to offer. With every pull he felt life and strength return to him, and he greedily drank it in. After the man was dead, Klaus reached behind him and tore the dagger out of his back, flinging the thing away from him in disgust. Instantly, he felt himself return to normal. As if the knife had never pained him at all.

This. This was true power. The combination of not one ancient magic but two. The wolf and the vampire in him fused together to create the most powerful being in the world. He was sure of it. For the first time in nearly a hundred years, he cursed his mother for binding his true nature inside of him. The wolf was the only thing that had saved him and his family from slaughter tonight, and she'd selfishly tried to get rid of it. If only there was some way to unleash it. To break that curse which held the other half of him locked inside. No one could ever challenge him again... But that was a problem for another day, as he turned and remembered his slain brother behind him.

He knelt down next to Elijah, hoping against hope that his suspicion was right. With a firm tug, he yanked the dagger out of the man's chest, and waited. And waited. And waited. Just when he was about to give up and begin mourning, Elijah jolted awake, gasping in a deep breath. Klaus covered his mouth with a hand, warning Elijah to be quiet. There were still hunters in the house after all. All five of them, if Klaus's suspicions were correct.

Elijah nodded his understand and kept his voice at a whisper, "They came up behind me. Each man had so much strength, brother. The dagger was in me before I knew it and then I was… I was dead. How can this be?"

"Perhaps we've discovered the all powerful weapon Alexander would not speak of?" Klaus supposed. "We must end them quickly, and then check on the others."

"I cannot," Elijah moaned, barely able to sit up. "Blood, I need blood."

Klaus scowled, remember the effects of his own dagger. "Then I will bring it to you, brother. The blood of those who would _dare_ to hunt us."

Leaving Elijah to his agony, Klaus made quick work of the hunters that lurked in his house. He listened for their footsteps, their heavy breathing, and the slide of their swords against their bodies. They were only men, no matter how strong, and he was a wolf. The most dangerous kind. Their daggers did not affect him, their strength did not stop him. He tore into each and every one, ripping the men limb from limb.

When he reached the room he shared with Caroline, he braced himself. The rage he felt at finding Elijah's daggered body would be nothing compared to this. He pushed the door open, and gritted his teeth at the sight before him. A bleeding, gasping man crawled away from him, still breathing but only just. The hunter who had been tasked with dispatching his wife. Caroline had clearly put up a fight. A quick twist of his boot ended that hunter. Good riddance.

Klaus finally looked to the bed. Caroline laid strewn out as she always would have been, almost sleeping. He could imagine her waiting up for him, eager to let him peel his gift off of her and worship every inch of her skin. And when he hadn't arrived after dinner, she would have dozed on their bed, hair strewn out around her, one arm hanging lazily off the side of the mattress like it did now. If it weren't for the grey tinge of her skin, he would think she could open her eyes at any minute, smile up at him and welcome him into their bed. But that was not the case. The scarlet dress he'd given her was now stained an even deeper red over her heart, where a dagger stuck proudly out her chest.

He walked to her side, careful to keep the monster inside of him that needed to lash out at this pain at bay. This violence wasn't for Caroline, it was for the hunters, and he would keep it so. He slowly and carefully pulled the knife out of his beloved wife, setting it on the table by the bed. He would have waited for her to wake, but there was still one more hunter left to deal with.

Alexander.

He stormed from the room, thinking it better that he take care of this slaughter while Caroline remained sleeping. She did not relish such extreme violence, and there was no way he would be able to hold himself back from killing Alexander in the most brutal ways possible.

The hunter remained in Rebekah's room, most likely waiting for his brothers to report that they had each killed their own Original. Foolish boy.

Klaus nearly tore the door off its hinges, and Alexander jumped to his feet from the chair by Rebekah's bed. His sister lay tangled in the sheets, clearly stabbed in the middle of a lover's tussle. He was going to kill the brute. Faster than the human eye could catch, Klaus had Alexander's sword off his waist and in hand. He didn't waste a moment or a breath on accusations or insults, he simple grabbed the boy by the throat and forced him to the wall across from his sister's bed. He wanted Alexander's corpse to be the first thing his dear Rebekah saw upon waking. The hunter put up a good fight, he gave him that, but ultimately he could not stand against an Original. No one could.

"You tried to take my family from me," Klaus whispered cruelly. "I should make you suffer for eternity, but one more moment on this earth is too good for you."

"Vile creature of darkness-" Alexander spat at him, but he didn't get farther than that. Klaus reached into his mouth, and with a forceful motion, ripped out the man's tongue.

Blood streamed from Alexander's mouth, soon joined by the blood streaming from his stomach. Klaus twisted the sword he'd just driven through the hunter's abdomen, grinning as his prey winced and gurgled. His final touch to the kill was to hoist Alexander up against the wall, pinning him there with his own sword. He'd wanted to hang the Hunter's Tattoos on his wall, and now he had. A work of art.

Rebekah must have been the last to be daggered because she was the quickest to wake. He'd barely had to wait a moment or two after pulling the knife from her heart before she seized to life. She sat up quickly, gasping for air and looking around the bloodstained room in confusion.

"What happened?"

"Ask him," Klaus stepped aside so she could see the body of her lover impaled to the stone behind him. "Only, he cannot answer because I have ripped out his tongue. Along with the rest of them."

He felt his anger rise again as Rebekah began to cry. She cried for her lover after he'd gutted her life a fish. "Nik, I had no idea," she sobbed.

"But you should have. Your only family was nearly wiped out because of your stupidity," he whispered angrily. And it was true. All those hours and days and nights spent with Alexander should have given her some hint as to what he had planned. There was no way on earth that she could have been so oblivious to her lover's intentions. The Five had known what they were for some time now, and Rebekah's was not stupid. She was not blind. She had known, on some level that the danger was near. So why had she ignored it? "What did he promise you?"

Rebekah shook her head quickly, tears still streaming down her face. "Nothing. Nothing!"

"He would not have made a move unless he knew you were vulnerable. You trusted him, over me! What did he promise you?"

Still Rebekah would not answer him, "Nothing, Nik! I swear!"

"WHAT DID HE PROMISE YOU?!" he was screaming now, but his sister continued to sob refusals. Klaus would not stand for this, he would force it out of her if he had to. Grabbing his sister by the shoulders, he shook her forcefully, yanking her up to her feet. He screamed in her face, "Tell me, Rebekah!"

"A cure," a small, weak voice carried over from the doorway.

Klaus whipped around, one hand still holding a vice grip on Rebekah's shoulder. Caroline sagged against the doorway, her skin still holding a tint of grey to it. She looked at Alexander's body hopelessly, as if his death had crushed her even more than it had Rebekah.

"What?" he hissed out, hoping he'd heard her wrong.

Caroline just repeated herself though. "He told her tales of a cure for vampirism. We could be human again, Nik."

One look at Rebekah's shocked face confirmed the truth. That was exactly the secret that his sister had been trying to keep, though it seems she had no clue how Caroline had discovered it. He was interested to know himself. It seemed there was not one scheming woman in his household, but two. Klaus would not stand for this. He would not be manipulated in his own home.

"Why would you even say that?" he lashed out at his wife. "You want to go back to being weak? Helpless? Mortal? Mikael would hunt us down and end us, you know he would!"

"We have not seen Mikael in decades!"

"He is still out there!"

"But we could live out our days in peace," Caroline begged. "No more killing, no more blood, no more violence. We could find somewhere far away, settle down… start a family."

Rebekah sobbed in his arms and it became clear why his sister wanted the cure at all. She had always resented the fact that she had never married or had children. The life that her mother had prepared for her was ripped from her grasp before she could even hope to enjoy a single day of it. No doubt the life Caroline had just described was exactly the one Rebekah envisioned for herself once the cure was in their grasp. Human. Weak. Fleeting. It held no allure for Klaus. Not anymore. They had eternity spanning out before them, and these women wanted a few decades at most?

He had thought Caroline was the one person who understood him. She knew why he loved his vampiric nature, and how much the power and control meant to him. The violence hadn't bothered her for years, and he couldn't understand the sudden interest in being human again. Had he really been that blind? Or was her morose mood lately due to some death wish, which he could never understand?

Klaus spat on the idea regardless. "I would never take this cure, you know I would not. And neither will you."

"Please, Nik-" Caroline begged.

"Silence!" he ordered. "I will hear no more of this. A cure is a fool's errand, and you will not pursue it, do you hear me?"

Caroline drew herself up, standing as tall as she could in her weakened state. "You do not control me. No one does. If I want this cure, then I will take it."

"Don't test me, Caroline." he warned.

"Don't test _me_!" she growled back.

He could see it then. Caroline would find this cure. She would search for another witch or another hunter. It could be ten years, it could be ten thousand, but eventually she would have her cure. Caroline would find the means to lead her to whatever magical potion would return them to their human selves, no matter the cost. Even worse, the determination in her eyes told him that she believed if she were to take the cure, he would take it too. And it was true. Eternity without Caroline was pointless. More a death sentence than anything else, and if that first drop passed her lips, he would follow. He would have no choice. Caroline fully intended to force his hand on the issue.

And so with barely a thought to the consequences, he gripped the dagger he'd just torn from Rebekah's chest tightly and rushed at Caroline. She was too weak, too slow, too trusting to see him coming or to stop him. Barely a flick of the wrist later the dagger was in her heart, and the light was leaving her eyes.

Klaus pressed a kiss to her forehead as she sunk to the ground, whispering his love for her as she died in his arms.

"Niklaus!" Rebekah screamed, horrified at this turn of events.

"I will wake her again," his voice shook as he said it, and his hands followed suit. He had to swallow a few times to even out his breathing and convince himself that he had actually just put down the love of his life. "She will see, eventually. This cure will bring us nothing but misery. Nothing."

His sister's sobs continued on and on, and he stayed there staring at Caroline's lifeless corpse for a long while. Eventually Elijah found them like that. He helped Rebekah out of the macabre setting and away from the bodies of her two loved ones. When he tried to take Caroline, Klaus let his fangs descend, and he hissed at his brother to stay away. Elijah wisely obeyed.

The sun rose a few hours later, and Klaus ordered for a carpenter to be summoned to the estate. He wrote out detailed specifications for an ornate and beautifully designed coffin to be made for his wife; something befitting royalty. Hopefully a few weeks of rest - for that is how he chose to think of her temporary death - would be enough to return Caroline to the woman he once knew. She would surely appreciate her immortality so much more after getting a taste of life without it. A few weeks, at most. Yes, that was how he rationalized it.

Unfortunately for them both, Klaus was not capable of rational thought again for a very long time.

* * *

><p><strong>And we have our first daggering.<strong>

**Mos****t of you know what comes next, but it's a part of Klaus's story that we have never seen in canon before. The Hunter's Curse. Klaus suffered through this curse for 52 year, 4 months, and 9 days. Intense. We'll see how that plays out next chapter :)**


	9. 1114 AD - Part 3

**Title:** If I Die Young

**Disclaimer: **Anything TO or TVD related belong to the CW

**_A/N: We're jumping around on the timeline a lot in this chapter because we're covering the period when Klaus was under the Hunter's Curse. Like Elena, we'll see just how many familiar faces jumped in on the torture games for Klaus over the ye_****ars. _And we'll see a small bit of how Caroline reacts when she wakes up. Be warned... this is not a happy chapter._ **

* * *

><p><strong>1114 A.D - Part 3<strong>

* * *

><p>The whispers were the worst. Screaming and blood and fire and darkness he could take. His body could withstand all of that. But the incessant whispering was the one thing he could not stand.<p>

Because he had no way to tell when it was real and when it was not.

"It's been six months, Elijah, we have to do something," Rebekah's voice echoed over the stones walls that kept him imprisoned.

"We are not waking her," Elijah hissed. "Do you think she would enjoy seeing her husband so tormented? Insane and raving at the walls?"

"She could help him. Make him more himself."

Elijah sighed helplessly. "Neither of us had been able to achieve that in all these months, neither will she. She's to stay daggered, just as Niklaus wished. She is his wife, it is his decision."

"She is _my _sister!"

"Enough Rebekah. I will not discuss this further."

Rebekah struck at something in frustration. "I cannot just sit here and do nothing."

"What do you propose we do exactly?"

"Put him out of his misery," Rebekah pleaded with her big brother. Klaus knew it was futile. There was no escape from this misery he was stuck in. Not ever.

He heard Elijah sigh next. "And how do you suggest we achieve that, Rebekah? The daggers and ash do not work on him, a wooden stake or a broken neck would give him a reprieve of a few hours at most. Do you recommend we continue killing our brother until we find a better solution?"

These whispers must have been false. There was no way his devoted siblings would contemplate murdering him over and over again. They could never be that cruel. But still, Klaus could not tell. The hallucinations took on strange forms, and they were getting stranger every day. It had become a constant and ceaseless attack on his mind, with no sign of reprieve. This was his new eternity, and it was a fitting punishment for his crimes. The hunters he had so brutally massacred months ago would not let him rest for his wicked ways. They came to him, his own personal curse, telling him to end the agony and fall on his own sword. And he'd tried. Many times. A fruitless endeavor.

"Where is Kol with that witch? They were supposed to arrive days ago, how can he be so late?" Rebekah sounded truly aggravated now.

"When he arrives, I will fetch you," Elijah soothed her. "For now, you need to leave. Your presence only aggravates him further, you know this."

Rebekah's scoff echoed around the halls, but the sound of her retreating footsteps told him that she was gone. Or the hallucination of her was gone anyways. Too hard to tell these days. Too confusing.

"So you've called in Kol?" Klaus called out. That was always the best and worst way to determine what was real or not. Ignoring them only worked for so long.

"Niklaus?" Elijah opened the door to the murky dungeon dwelling that was now his home. "Are you… how are you feeling, brother?"

Klaus rolled his eyes, staying seated against the far wall. Not like he could move much anyways, the chains kept him in place. "I'm feeling hungry and weak and incredibly insane. Yourself?"

Elijah gritted his teeth in a reluctant smile. "You are more lucid today. That is a good sign."

"Or I'm completely mad, and you're not really here."

"Yes, well…" Elijah seemed to shift back and forth on his feet, unsure of how to interact with his now demented younger brother. "Kol will be arriving soon. He brings a witch who has knowledge of these hunters and the curse they put on you. With any luck, she will lift the spell and all will be back to normal."

"Wonderful," Klaus deadpanned. Another false lead, as always.

Somehow sensing his brother's mood, Elijah nodded solemnly and turned on his heel to leave. The metal clanging of the door sliding shut told Klaus he was alone again.

This cell had been his home for six months, two weeks, and seven days. The stones dripped when rain fell from the sky above, and there were no windows or rays of sunlight to speak of. The air was stale and smelled of his own stench; baths were rarely allowed as he usually tried to drown himself in them. These four walls were his home now, and at the moment, he couldn't remember if it was self-imposed or not, only that he had no wish to leave. At the beginning, he'd lasted all of three nights with the horrid curse before he'd walked straight out into the sun, determined to end himself if he could. After spending an entire day burning the skin off his bones, only for it to heal and grow back, Klaus had determined that sunlight was not the best way to go. Next, he'd driven a stake through his chest, but like always, he'd woken up hours later good as new. After that, he'd ripped his own heart out, thrown himself off the roof, and even managed to remove his head from his body. He'd been sure that last one was going to work. Sadly for him, his siblings found him every time, eager to piece him back together and mend his wounds. And every time they succeeded, until they'd finally locked him down in this dungeon, keeping him weak and chained.

He was no longer a danger to himself, but that meant he was at the mercy of his tormentors all too often.

"Did you hear that Kol?" Klaus looked to his left, finally acknowledging the presence he'd neglected all morning. "You're coming to save me."

As far as hallucinations went, Kol was probably his favorite. He always started out kind enough, which was more than he could say for many of the others. For instance, this morning they'd been reminiscing over the traveling fair they'd torn their way through some twenty years ago. It had been a night to remember, that one. But now it seemed their camaraderie was gone, and it was time for the torture to begin.

His younger brother - or the image of him at least - lounged on the bed of straw that he no longer bothered to use anymore. "Come now, Nik. You don't really think I'm on my way do you? After what you did to me? I'd never help you."

Klaus only cracked his knuckles and tried to go back to ignoring the delusion.

"You slept with my wife, Nik," Kol stood, looming over him in anger. "How could I ever forgive something like that? Tell me, did you think of me, when you were inside of her? Did you ever think of what that would do to me?"

Klaus breathed deeply, trying not to let the guilt gnaw at him. "No."

This issue had long since been resolved. He knew it had. But still, the curse had a way of inciting emotions; anger, sadness, guilt, humiliation, regret, sorrow. The attack on the mind was only a smokescreen. The curse's true purpose was to attack the heart. And the attacks were brutal.

"How could you betray me like that, Nik?"

"We didn't betray you," Klaus moaned helplessly. "You didn't love her. She didn't love you."

Kol laughed pathetically, and this mockery of his brother let him see every ounce of pain cross his face. "You must truly want to believe that, don't you? That I never felt a damn thing for her? But you're wrong. Why do you think I left you all in the first place?"

"No…" Klaus didn't want to hear this. Not again.

"I did love her Nik."

"No, you didn't."

Kol screamed at him, "I loved her and you took her from me!"

"NO!" Klaus launched himself up towards Kol, but he was gone. Disappeared like always. He breathed heavily, looking around the empty room wildly.

"Did she ever tell you about our wedding night?" Kol asked, and Klaus whipped around to find him sitting against the wall. Damn these hunters.

Klaus sunk down too, surrendering to ghost and the guilt. "Stop, please."

Kol only grinned. "I bet she told you nothing happened. That we were chaste as brother and sister. Typical Caroline, trying to spare your feelings." Klaus flinched at the name. He always did. Pain and misery followed every memory of Caroline these days. "It was a lie of course, and a cleverly crafted one."

"Stop," Klaus begged again, knowing it was useless.

"Ah, you thought you were the first. How quaint," Kol laughed at his pain. "Did she enjoy it? That first time with you? Because she screamed for me. I'm actually surprised no one heard us on our wedding night. She loved it."

Klaus pressed his hands over his ears. "You're lying."

"Am I?" Kol grinned, standing up and walking towards the door. "Why don't we just ask Caroline? Oh, that's right… we can't."

They'd come to his least favorite part of the conversation. The one that Kol always seemed to find the most vindictive pleasure in. Caroline's daggering. His love still lay in that coffin he'd placed her in months ago; dagger in her heart, the life sucked out of her. Often he worried that she would not wake if he removed the dagger after so long. More often he worried that she would. Six months of death would be unforgivable, and Klaus could not bear to lose her now. Not when he was so vulnerable and tormented. Keeping her daggered was his decision, and Elijah and Rebekah honored it. For now. Unfortunately, that decision only gave his ghosts more weapons to use against him.

"She's safer this way. Safe from herself," Klaus whispered.

"Oh, you tell yourself that every day, don't you?" Kol spat out, no longer jovial or teasing. "That you're protecting her, saving her? But you know the truth; you've imprisoned her. Struck her down where she stood and put her in a box to rot. How long will she stay there, Nik? Two more months? Two years? Two centuries?"

Klaus shot up, pulling at his chains. "Until I am rid of you!"

"You'll never be rid of me," Kol's voice changed, deeper and more menacing. Alexander stood in front of him now, bloody and holding the sword that Klaus had used to impale him. He pointed the weapon at Klaus in accusation. "I will be with you for the rest of your miserable eternity. Until you find a way to end this doomed existence. Kill yourself, _Niklaus_. It's the only way this will ever end."

"I'm trying," Klaus sank back down to the ground, a pathetic tear leaking down his face. "I'm trying."

* * *

><p><strong>1124 A.D<strong>

* * *

><p>Ten years. Ten endless, agonizing, torturous years.<p>

Klaus felt quite mad these days, completely incapable of distinguishing reality from fantasy. Or maybe it was the other way around? Maybe the hallucinations were his reality and everything else was just a happy delusion his mind had created to keep from breaking completely. Had he ever had a family or a life outside of these walls? Probably not. It hardly mattered anymore. The ghosts were all he had now, and that was the truth of it.

"It pains me to see you so lost, my son," Esther ran a hand through his dirty, unkempt hair. "I never wanted this for you. I never wanted an eternity of torture for any of my children."

"Then why do you not end this mother?" Klaus could hear the defeat in his own voice. "End me. You have the power."

Klaus longed for death. He waited for it with each baited breath and passing hour. And the hours passed slowly. He remembered how months used to pass like seconds, but now the seconds seemed to have turned into decades. Time was funny like that. Funny and strange and awful. Denying himself blood had been his very last option, and he'd come close to desiccation quite a few times. But Elijah, noble as ever, always forced the blood down his throat eventually. A witch - vindictive little things they were - had told him that the mental torture would be absolute in a dessicated state. That his mind would be warped beyond recognition if he were to spend countless years trapped in his own head with these monsters. So blood was routinely forced on him, to prevent it. Klaus hardly saw the point. He had at most a few hours reprieve from the madness anyways. Was that so much better?

"Only you can end it, Niklaus. You will find a way, I know you will," Esther encouraged him.

Klaus only sighed. "You lie. You always lie. This is my punishment for killing you. I know it is."

"No, Niklaus. I would never put this curse on you. What kind of mother would wish that on her own flesh and blood?"

"Flesh and blood," a deep voice spat out from the shadows. Esther was gone. Replaced by Mikael. He stormed towards his son, fury and violence painting his features. "You're no flesh and blood of mine, boy. Though I'll be happy to tear the flesh off your bones when I find you!"

"Father please," Klaus ducked his head down, waiting for the punishing blow, but it never came.

Instead there was a soft hand slipping into his. "Nik, you needn't be frightened of him," Rebekah squeezed his hand hard. "We stick together as one. Remember?"

"Bekah?" he tried to distinguish if his sister was truly here. She'd left over a year ago, in search of a new witch. She had not returned that he could tell. Abandoned him to his madness, no doubt.

"We'll get through this, brother," she reassured him, squeezing his hand again. She felt real. So real.

He sobbed and pulled her closer, "I do not think I can, Bekah."

"Of course you can, you are so strong, Nik," Rebekah had tears in her eyes, and her voice shook with the pain of seeing him so torn apart. He basked in it. Love and affection. He missed these things with every passing moment, starved for them in ways he could not describe. "I will be here to help you through it. Always and forever."

"You won't leave me?"

Rebekah only smiled. "I'd never leave you, Nik." Klaus grabbed her hand tighter, trying with all his might to believe she was truly here. That he was lucid for the first time in days. A relief from the hallucinations that tormented him. His sister's face took a dark turn though as she spoke again, "You'd never _let_ me leave after all. Monsters don't like to be alone."

He dropped her hand, lacking the energy to even be surprised anymore. The ghosts were clever, luring him in with false hope. But he had almost no hope left anymore. It was nearly a relief to find the same tricks used over and over again. A sense of routine and familiarity was a blessing at this point.

"I am monstrous, aren't I?" he chuckled.

"The worst kind of monster," Alexander circled him. "The kind who believes himself a man."

Klaus leaned back against the stone wall of his prison, looking up and imagining that he could see the stars. Or maybe the sun. It was difficult to tell if either truly existed, since he had not seen them in so many years. "I was a man once."

* * *

><p><strong>1150 A.D<strong>

* * *

><p>"Checkmate."<p>

"Rubbish. You cheated."

"Well then, you cheated yourself, you loon." Kol reclined in his chair, grinning from ear to ear.

Klaus struck out with his hand, intending to upend the blasted chess board, but his hand floated through it as always. The hallucinations had gotten more and more refined as the years dragged on. These days, the hunters could even make him imagine he was back in his old village, or on the seas of the ocean. They were quite skilled at their task, after so much practice.

Running a hand across his face, Klaus had to concede. "What does that say about me? That I cannot even let myself win when I'm playing against my own hand."

"I'd guess it stems from your deeply complicated issues with our father. It's always the case in mad men, isn't it? The parents are to blame."

"I suppose," Klaus agreed.

Kol stood, up taking a turn around the room. "Speaking of fathers and sons, did I ever tell you about that barbarian tavern I drank dry?"

"Many times."

"Shall I tell it again? It's not as if you've got pressing matters to attend to. Let me remember... Ah yes! It started with a scuffle over the most beautiful girl…"

The next few hours were spent in blissful silence for Klaus, as he listened to his brother's ghost prattle on about all of his conquests and all the men, women, and children he'd eaten and drained over the years. Some were stories he'd never heard before, some were all too familiar. Every now and then, Kol would enlist other hallucinations to help him pantomime the whole gruesome scene. Klaus assumed that was for his benefit, though he didn't enjoyed it like he would have so many years ago. Now it was only a constant reminder that his sanity was too far out of reach. That he'd never recover from this.

Kol clapped his hands angrily. "You're not listening, Nik. You never listen."

"I always listen, you're inside my head. I have no other choice."

"Well that's a rather dour way of looking at it."

"Such is my curse," Klaus sighed.

Kol frowned, morphing slowly into a completely different brother. "Are you growing tired of Kol?" Finn asked pleasantly.

"Oh wonderful," Klaus groaned, "Is your new plan to bore me to death then? Have at it, I wish you the best of luck."

Finn twisted his mouth angrily, in the way he always used to when he wanted to lash out at Klaus but his manners kept him from doing so. Finn had always followed their mother around like a puppy, and Esther had never condoned rudeness or fighting. Ever eager to please, Finn had stopped rising to the bait because of it. But Klaus could always see how it ate at him, keeping that rage of his locked inside. Their mother had tempered Finn's independence but fostered his irritability. An amusing combination.

"Is that why I remain daggered in a box?" Finn asked. "Because I bored you? You'd sentence your own brother to death because I wouldn't play murder games with you like Kol?"

Klaus rolled his eyes, "Don't be so dramatic, Finn. It never suited you. Elijah keeps you daggered because you were a dullard and a danger to yourself. Abstaining from blood and moping around the estate all the time."

"Pardon me for respecting human life."

"You respected nothing," he scoffed. "You only deprived yourself because you enjoyed the punishment. You thought yourself evil and all of us along with you, and so your self-imposed penance was starvation. Transparent as ever, Finn."

His brother sneered at the insult. "You should have just let me starve. The result is the same."

"And wait around for you to lose control and feed on some poor soul in broad daylight? Exposing us? If you were capable of taking your own life you would have done it years ago. You should be thanking me, really."

Finn laughed, folding his arms across his chest as a display of outrage. "Thanking you? For what, exactly?"

"Well someone had to keep your precious Sage from becoming a widow. I wonder if Elijah looks after her now, or if he exiled her from our home the second you went down? None of us cared for that peasant whore, you know."

"A fact you were all too eager to remind me of."

"You're welcome."

Finn kicked over a bucket, finally showing a bit of that fury Klaus loved to stoke. Taunting his brother, even if he wasn't truly there, was a wonderful pass time. No doubt the ghost would turn on him eventually, bringing about the worst kind of torture, but still, this was entertainment. These hallucinations indulged him every now and then, giving him the illusion of control and normalcy. He supposed it was to help make the turn back towards torture even more unbearable. And it worked, to be sure. But for now, he would enjoy this.

Simple pleasures.

* * *

><p><strong>1164 A.D<strong>

* * *

><p>Sunset. His least favorite time of day. He could always tell when the sun was no longer hovering in the sky because for the past fifty years, without fail, it was when Caroline came to him.<p>

The first time, he'd thought someone had let her out of her box.

He screamed for Elijah, threatening to tear his brother's head off for waking his wife from her slumber. In his weakened state, he could never hope to contain her and keep her from the cure like he'd promised. He'd screamed at the ceiling for hours before he realized that Elijah had been ignoring him. Before he realized that Caroline was not in fact there at all.

And every evening after she returned.

"Hello my love," Caroline lay down on the stone floor next to him, curling into his side as she always used to.

Klaus did not wrap his arms around her. Would not.

"How did you spend your day?" she asked pleasantly, as if she were just inquiring about the weather. "Whatever is the matter? Did those awful hunters put you in a mood?"

He greeted her mocking tone with silence. It was his only defense.

"Why do you never hold me anymore, Nik? Don't you love me?"

"Not tonight, please," he finally spoke to her. "I'm tired."

He was always tired. Tired from lack of sleep. Tired from lack of blood. Tired from this endless existence that he was doomed to repeat day after day after day. His siblings, wherever they may be, would not even let him try to end it all. They still had hope. Fools. He would be stuck like this forever, they all knew it. He just hoped that one day they would stop searching for a way to break his curse, and start searching for a way to break him. Death was all he wanted.

Caroline brushed his hair out of his eyes and forced him to look at her. "Did you ever think that that sort of disregard for my feelings is why I wanted to leave you in the first place?"

Klaus sighed heavily. The same accusations as always. "She wasn't leaving me, she only wanted to be human again."

"You can't seriously believe that," Caroline laughed. "I didn't want to be free of vampirism, I just wanted to be free of you."

"Stop."

"I knew you'd return to being human. There was no humanity left in you, that had been clear to me for decades," Caroline rolled away from him and sat up. "I only wanted to force your hand, thereby forcing you to let me go."

"Lies," Klaus breathed.

Rage filled Caroline's face, and her eyes bled red with it. "Do you want to know the real reason I was so desperate to leave?" Klaus actually pressed his hands to his ears, desperate to block her out, but it was useless. "It wasn't your insatiable appetite or your cruelty or your lies. Those I could have excused for centuries. No, the changes in you were nothing to me. It was the change in _myself_ I could not handle. The hate and malice in my own heart just kept growing and growing, and it was your fault."

"No," Klaus shut his eyes tightly, but her words rang true.

"Every life I took, every innocent I slaughtered... I enjoyed it. I loved every kill and reveled it in because that was what you needed of me. We both know I would do anything for you. You needed me to be cruel, just like you, and so I became cruel," Caroline spat the words at him, and Klaus ground his teeth together to keep from hearing. It was no use though. The words were echoing inside his head regardless. "I tried to ignore it, to hold on to that girl I used to be, but she slipped away. Replaced by something awful. A monster."

"Caroline was not a monster," he denied, "She was strong, and she was beautiful, and she was full of light."

His wife's ghost just tutted softly, as if she'd caught him in a lie. "There's no need for denial, we can be honest with each other. You turned me into something despicable, and I hated you for it. And now we can spend eternity down here torturing each other. After all... we deserve it. Two monsters, paying for our sins."

Klaus swallowed hard. "It's not true."

"Yes, it is. You are poison, Niklaus. You ruined me."

Breathing deeply, Klaus tried to find an anchor among these lies. He wasn't new to this trickery, and nothing could convince him that Caroline would have left him. Nothing. "Away with you, before I cut out your heart and eat it in front of you."

"There's that monster again."

Klaus lashed out, striking at her with all his might, expecting to be met with nothing but air as always. But the hunters were prepared for this, waiting for it, and the illusion held up. His palm connected with skin and he saw Caroline's head snap to the side as he struck her. There was a shocked moment of guilt, where Klaus stared down at his open hand and instantly fought the urge to pull his wife into his arms and apologize profusely. He had never struck Caroline, not ever. He _would not_ become his father. But then his mind reminded him of what was not real, and he let his guilt slip away.

Caroline bit her lip and looked down at her lap, quiet tears streaming down her face. Not for the first time, Klaus marveled at these hunters and their ability to mimic even the smallest of gestures. He'd seen the exact same expression on his wife's face hundreds of times over the years. When he'd said something he didn't mean or scolded her too sharply. Some small scrap of sanity, some tiny part of his heart knew that this was not Caroline. He could always tell. But there were moments. Moments when he wavered and thought just maybe… the illusion was so painstakingly composed, so perfectly attuned to what he wanted to see and needed to hear. Sometimes he almost let himself believe that his wife had truly returned to him. Klaus indulged himself just this once, reaching a hand out and lifting her chin back up to face him.

"I would have forgiven you, you know," Caroline smiled tearfully. "For putting that dagger in me."

"No," Klaus sighed and traced her cheek thoughtfully. "She will never forgive me for that. Not truly."

"Why? I've forgiven you for everything else. This is no different." Caroline asked, confused.

"Because," Klaus finally let his hand fall away from the cheek that wasn't truly there. "Caroline may have loved me then, but she will never love me now. Not as I am, tortured and lost to madness." He huffed out a great breath, nearly a sob that he found himself choking back. "That is the true reason I keep her locked away. So she will never have to see me thus. A shadow of the man she once knew."

Caroline's ghost stayed silent, graciously choosing not to take the opportunity to drive the knife of that confession deeper into his heart. He thanked the hunters for that. They would undoubtedly use this information at a later date to create painful and scathing accusations, but for now they let him stew in his regret and his grief. Eventually, he lay back down on the floor, letting Caroline tuck herself into his arms. The warmth or her embrace and the feel of her hair brushing his cheek swayed him towards sleep. As he dozed, Klaus could almost pretend like she was truly there with him again. Safe in his arms, the loving wife who would never leave him.

* * *

><p><strong>1166 A.D<strong>

* * *

><p>One day - one blessed, beautiful, sacred day - the ghosts let him be.<p>

They left him alone and gave him a day of rest for the first time in over fifty years. He prayed to his old gods that day, in thanks and worship for the brief respite. And then the ghosts gave him another day. And another. An entire week passed without torment, and that gave way to a terrifying, new kind of insanity. Because if even the ghosts would not visit him, then he was truly lost. Alone.

His lack of screams drew Rebekah's attention after a few days, and she spoke to him through the door. For the first time in decades, he believed that she was truly there. His head seemed clearer somehow. The darkness that had plagued him for so long was lifted, and the urge to end himself had disappeared. But she would not let him out. Not with the threat still hanging around him. He agreed. Keep him down here forever, he'd grown used to it after all. After an entire month, Elijah would not stand for it. He brought Klaus out of the dungeon that had been his home and into the bedrooms above. He touched wood and steel for the first time in years. All weapons and unnecessary accoutrements had been stripped from him for his own safety, and he realized how much he'd missed these things. Soft sheets were no longer nooses waiting to be tied. A dinner fork was no longer a blade waiting to lodge itself in his throat. A mirror was no longer a shard of glass waiting to slice across his wrist. They were all just things. Things, things, things. They filled up the world.

Part of him still believed it was a new trick concocted to lull him into hoping again before ripping it away. More than once he woke up back in his dungeon, as if his body had returned here in anticipation of the return of the ghosts. Each time, Rebekah wrapped him up in blankets, took his hand, and led him back to his bed. His family spent months reintroducing him to sanity and society. His mind was warped, to be sure, but not beyond repair. Klaus found himself returning to reason more quickly than he'd anticipated. A blessing and a curse.

Because after only three months free of his curse, his brother apparently deemed him stable enough to broach the one topic that he most abhorred.

"When do you plan to wake Caroline and Finn, brother?" Elijah asked plainly.

Klaus kept his eyes on the sketch in front of him. His art had become a new kind of obsession for him. His imagination had been a weapon used against him for so long, it was refreshing to be in control of it yet again. "I wasn't aware you cared all that much."

"Don't be purposefully dim Niklaus," Elijah warned. "You know I place family above all."

"I cannot argue with that," Klaus sighed. Elijah's treatment and care of him when most would have abandoned him to his insanity was proof enough of that. "Finn was not meant for this life, brother, we all know it. When the starvation and depression drives him mad, he will do something foolish like seek out Mikael. He wants no part of our eternity, so he shall have none of it."

Klaus looked up to see if Elijah agreed with his sentencing. Keeping Finn locked in a coffin for the rest of his life seemed harsh. But what was their alternative? Sit around and watch him waste away? That would be unthinkable. He could see the wheels turning behind Elijah's eyes as he came to the same conclusion.

"Agreed," his brother finally answered sadly. "Finn will stay as he is. Perhaps he is happier this way." After a long pause, filled with tense silence, Elijah carried on, "And Caroline? Is she to remain imprisoned as well?"

Klaus had thought of nothing else for fifty-two years. The rational move would be to undagger her. After half a century, the trail of the hunters and their long-dead witch had run cold. Klaus knew that better than anyone. If by some miracle, they were able to find another hint of it, the threat of the Hunter's Curse was enough of a deterrent to keep anyone from seeking out answers. Faced with the facts, Caroline would abandon this silly idea of a human life, he was sure. Logically, he had his answer.

But logic was not the only factor in this decision.

Caroline would hate him. Klaus could still feel the handle of the dagger in his hand, sliding between her ribs to find a place in her heart. He could still picture with perfect clarity the shock and pain on her face as the life bled out of her eyes and her skin glossed over with grey. That utter look of betrayal that had been just for him as she surrendered to death. There was no escaping it; he had killed his wife. And worse, he had kept her down not for mere weeks, but years. Decades. And he had done it all to rip away the one thing she'd ever wanted. A life with him. It was unforgivable, and it was entirely his fault.

"Niklaus?" Elijah pulled him back to the present.

"Yes," he answered quickly, before he could change his mind. "It is time to wake her."

The decision was made, and he could sense Elijah's relief. No doubt he thought Caroline's presence would speed Klaus' recovery. Klaus worried it would do the opposite. If she left him, like her ghost had threatened to do every day for half a century, he might break. He might return to the hollowed out husk of a man he'd been down in that dungeon.

Regardless, that evening he sat with Elijah, dagger in hand, and waited for Caroline to seize to life on her bed as she'd done all those years ago. They waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Too long. Hours had gone by and she was too still. His heart beat fast and his throat closed off, the terrifying knowledge that he had truly killed his wife sinking in. Rebekah would hate him. Caroline had been her only companion in the world since they were children. Kol would be disgusted. The wife that he'd stolen, he'd tossed aside and murdered like she was nothing. And Klaus would spend eternity sitting beside her corpse, replaying the moment that he'd decided to snuff out the one life that gave his existence meaning.

The madness was taking over again. Accusations and insults spinning around his head.

The spinning stopped abruptly when a loud gasp echoed around the room. His eyes shot up to lock with Caroline's, wide and blinking, her mouth open and sucking in the air that it had been deprived of for so long. She did not sit up or pull herself out of bed, she just turned her head to the side to catch sight of him. Confusion and fear lurked behind her eyes, but she reached out to him regardless. Caroline lifted her hand, a silent request that he come to her side, and every doubt Klaus had flew away. She still needed him. All would be right with the world.

He was at her side in an instant, grasping her hand and stroking her forehead to calm her down. "Shhh, all is well. You are alive," he reassured her - and himself - with quiet words.

Caroline grabbed onto him tightly, and he sank into the embrace. He'd be so afraid she would never let him hold her again, but here she was, back in his arms. Very suddenly, her grip turned hard. He felt himself tossed through the air, his back colliding with the stone wall across the room. In a flash, Caroline was off the bed and out the door.

Elijah took off after her, and after shaking the dust and crumbled stone off of himself, Klaus followed.

They found her in the servants quarters, two bodies drained at her feet and another in her arms. Elijah held him back, wisely deciding to let Caroline have her fill before disturbing her. None of them had ever gone so long without blood before, and Klaus could only hope it had done no permanent damage.

Finishing off the last drop in the servant girl, Caroline let her body fall to the floor. "More," she hissed.

"Calm yourself, Caroline," Elijah spoke softly so as not to spook her. "You've had enough for now."

"I'm starving, Elijah," she whined pitifully.

"Let her have her fill, brother," Klaus ordered, "She needs it."

Caroline's gaze snapped to him, as if just realizing that he was there. "You!" she hissed.

She rushed at him, grabbing him by the shirt and tossing him with all her might. This hit landed significantly harder than the last, and he smiled to see Caroline's strength returning. She was not too damaged then, and he was grateful for it. The few blows that followed broke his jaw and probably a rib or two, at which point he moved out of her way and restrained her from behind.

"Caroline," Klaus ground out as his bones mended back together. "I know you're angry, love-"

"Angry!" she screamed, trying to force her way out of his hold. It was no use. She might have been recovering but she was no match for him yet. "I'm furious! You used that dagger on me, knowing what it would do. I should tear you limb from limb!"

"Yes, you should, and I'm happy to let you if that is what you want," he agreed, and her struggles stopped for a moment. He turned to Elijah, nodded towards the door. "A moment please, Elijah?"

His brother looked doubtful at first, no doubt wondering if either of them were stable enough to be left alone. It would certainly be shame if they tore their home apart so soon after their family was whole again. But after a moment of silence, Elijah agreed, sweeping out the door and back towards his quarters.

Klaus sighed in Caroline ear and slowly loosened his hold, but only by a little. "Will you let me speak for a moment before you start tearing? Please?"

She fidgeted in his arms a bit but agreed. "Fine, speak."

"Where to begin…" Klaus finally released her and moved back into the room to pull two chairs together. He sat down and motioned for her to do the same, but Caroline remained standing, keeping her chair in between them like a shield. That stung. "I should never have kept you daggered, I know that-"

"What do you mean 'kept'?" Caroline cut him off immediately. "How long have I been… dead?"

He winced at the word, but that is what she had been. Dead. The worst part first then. Klaus squirmed in his chair for a moment, building up the courage to answer her. Training his eyes on the floor, he whispered her answer, "Fifty years."

There was a long silence, where Caroline stood in front of him, her jaw locked, and tears pooling in her eyes. "What?" she whispered, barely breathing at all.

"Fifty-two years, seven months, and ten days," Klaus added, "To be exact."

The chair between them flew into the wall, shattering to pieces on impact. He could see Caroline longed to pick up one of the shards of wood and drive it into his heart, but she kept herself in check. Instead, she grabbed the nearest breakable thing that was not him, and shattered that too. No doubt his siblings could hear the commotion and wisely chose to stay out of it.

"Caroline," Klaus tried to get her attention back, but she only rounded on him.

"I do not believe you," she denied, a single finger pointed at him in accusation. "You could never do that to me. Never!"

Klaus sighed heavily, "I did. Elijah and Rebekah had nothing to do with it, it was my choice alone."

"How could you?" she sobbed and shook her head, still finding it impossible to believe him capable of such a thing. "Fifty years. You killed me, and then you left me like that for fifty years? Fifty... I-I- why?!"

"You spoke of humanity and cures," Klaus searched for his reasoning, coming up blank. He had been so wrong. "I only wanted to protect you."

"Liar!" Caroline shouted. "No matter what I spoke of, that is no excuse for stealing decades of my life! Why, Niklaus?!"

Her tears and shouts hurt him more than any torture he could remember during their time apart. "I was not myself," he tried to explain, "Killing those hunters… there was a consequence."

"I don't care about consequences, tell me _why_!" Caroline shouted.

"I was insane, Caroline!" he shouted right back. "The ghosts of those hunters drove me to the brink of madness for _decades_, and I could not bear to wake you to watch me tormented! I could no bear to watch you leave me because of it! Is that what you want to hear?"

Fear and confusion and empathy flew back and forth behind Caroline's eyes. He watched her struggle with his revelation - one he had hoped to never share with her - and for the life of him he could not determine what she would do with the information. She seemed to want to question and comfort him, but also to lash out at him again. Her anger and her pity were at war with each other, and he could see that her love for him hung in the balance. Would she choose to forgive him for his grievous mistake? Or would that one moment where he'd acted in rage and fear kill what was between them once and for all?

Finally, Caroline bit her lip and approached him slowly, as if still scared of what he might do. He made sure to stay completely still, as non-threatening as possible, letting her know it was safe to approach him. That he'd never hurt her again. She came in close and hesitantly took his face in her hands. He held his breath as she looked into his eyes, searching for the truth there. He offered it up willingly, letting down any walls he had erected to keep the lingering madness at bay. She could see then, so obviously what he had been through. The torture he had undergone.

And she sneered at it.

"I hope they made you suffer," Caroline whispered darkly, dropping her hands and backing away slowly.

His eyes drifted shut, and his teeth bit together hard enough to draw blood. Her retreating footsteps told Klaus that she had left, though he didn't listen to where. He was too afraid if he reached out with his senses far enough, he would hear her walking out the front door. Leaving him forever.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's another section complete!<strong>

**Klaus had kind of a rough fifty years, right?**

**We're not going to see the time period that directly follows this - I know such a bummer - at least not for quite a while. I hate to leave you all hanging, but I do want to leave it as a big question mark. How does she ever forgive him? What does he do to make it up to her and reestablish that love between them? These are questions I want hanging over future chapters when you see how they interact. But please know that Caroline does not put up with his 'I was trying to protect you' crap. Klaus did an awful thing, and Caroline will never soothe his man pain and hug it out after such a betrayal. That's what Cami is for. Bleck. In her eyes, he deserved every minute of torture for betraying her.**


	10. 1923 AD - Part 1

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything TVD or TO related belongs to the CW

_**A/N: I know I promised less angst and heartbreak in this fic soon, but I'm a total bitch and liar to boot. Sorry about that. We're skipping all the way to the 1920s for this next section. Jazz, booze, and *drumroll please* ENZO! That's right, I love him so much, I wrote him into the 20s flashbacks. Because I can. I think you're either really going to love the part he has to play, or you're going to really really hate him. Sorry about it. Trigger warning for infidelity for those that are bound to get uppity about it. **_

_**Super long author's note at the bottom if you're into that stuff :)**_

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><p><strong>1923 A.D - Part 1<strong>

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><p>Not for the first time, Klaus had to admit that Stefan Salvatore was the only thing making this decade worth while.<p>

It was very rare that you came across a true ripper in this world. Klaus himself had only seen a handful in his 900 years, and one of them was in his own family. Vampires whose lack of humanity let them indulge in rivers of blood were a dime-a-dozen these days, and completely uninteresting. Beneath his notice. But a ripper… a ripper didn't just indulge, he luxuriated in the kill. The hunt wasn't just a lead up, it was all part of a cleverly crafted game that turned feeding into an art form. Stefan, while new to the life of a killer, was already a master. His torturous mind games were a refreshing change of pace for Klaus, and one that he participated in enthusiastically. He enjoyed watching the ripper play with his food, inciting so much fear and panic in the humans. It was something he'd gone without for far too long in New Orleans, with all of its alliances and rules and boundaries. The settled life was comforting for a time, but every now and then a vampire needed to let loose and murder his way through a decade or two. Stefan provided that quite adequately.

Speak of the devil, the ripper popped his head up from the neck of the girl he'd been draining in the middle of the dance floor to stare directly at Klaus. His bloody smile was that of a man high as kite on blood and booze, both of which flowed freely in this underground speakeasy.

By now, they'd compelled at least half of the usual patrons to ignore any sort of vampiric activity, and the other half were almost always too drunk out of their minds to notice. It was an ideal situation, and one that was holding up nicely in this Chicago detour. Who knew the windy city could be such fun? Not much later, Stefan slid into the booth next to him, a tumbler of whiskey in each hand. He obligingly slid the second over to Klaus, and they both shot their drinks back quickly.

"Where's your dance partner, mate?" Klaus asked, a grin on his face.

Stefan smirked right back, "Rotting in the alley outside. Shame too, she could swing with the best of them."

They laughed at their own morbidity, and Klaus pictured the mayhem that would follow. He could see the headlines now: _**FLAPPER FOUND DEAD: THE RIPPER OF MONTEREY STRIKES AGAIN**_. They'd been playing this game with the tabloids for almost a year now, stirring up controversy wherever they could. The only thing more entertaining than watching your victims flee in fear was watching the police try to solve the crime after the fact.

"She's got a hell of a voice, your girl," the ripper interrupted his musings, motioning to the stage drunkenly.

Klaus' gaze followed Stefan's hand and fell on the backlit silhouette of the love of his life. Caroline had always had a flair for the dramatic, and singing on the stage of a fancy nightclub had been a fantasy of hers for years. Here in this little hole in the ground, where no one knew their names and not a soul remembered their faces, she indulged. Jazz music blared and her voice accompanied it, slow and sultry, seductive as ever. She captivated her audience in a way that Klaus had never seen before.

Or perhaps it was simply that he was more captivated than ever.

Hard to tell these days.

He let his eyes rove over her, hungry for this rare chance to stare along with everyone else. Her blonde curls were pinned up messily, tied in place with an elegant headband. A gift from Rebekah on her last birthday, if he remembered correctly. Her hips swung back and forth, and Klaus thanked whoever had come up with this flirty new style of dress that showed off women's legs so beautifully. The swishing of her skirt back and forth let the hem of her dress flirt with the tops of her knees, and Klaus had to fight the urge to lick his lips like a lecher. Caroline never went without stockings for modesty, but it didn't make her any less alluring to him or any other man in the room.

The band finished their set a minute later, and Caroline curtseyed cutely before leaving the stage to the sound of thunderous applause. They loved her. And they weren't the only ones. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Caroline was met by a suave man with dark, slicked-back hair and a wicked grin. She threw herself into his arms, and he spun her around joyfully before planting a firm kiss on her mouth.

The tumbler in Klaus hand cracked and shattered.

"She's not my girl," Klaus hissed, sinking back into the booth to fume.

"Right," Stefan laughed and shook his head as if it were all one big joke.

His name was Lorenzo, and for the past two years, Klaus had wanted nothing more than to rip his smug little head from his smug little body. He'd come close once or twice actually, but every time, Caroline interceded. She protected her pet well, and Klaus knew he could never truly kill the whelp. Not until he lost Caroline's favor and was out from underneath her protection.

He watched them closely, raking his gaze over their snuggled forms at a table by the bar as the band struck up a new tune. Enzo pressed a kiss to Caroline's ear, and she ran her hand up around his neck in response. Her partner pulled her closer, his hand resting low on her back. Too low. These were the intimate touches of lovers, and they turned Klaus' stomach. He ground his teeth together, determined not to show how insane with jealousy he was.

Let her have this affair. It was a dalliance designed to hurt him, nothing more.

Her sweet laughter echoed up to him, and his jaw locked in place. He was close to losing it. Thankfully, Rebekah chose that moment to present a worthwhile distraction.

"Carmella, this is my brother, Nik," Rebekah smiled deviously through red painted lips. She slid into the booth next to them, accompanied by the sweetest looking girl in all the world. Innocent, wide-eyed, and far too young to be boozing in a jazz club. Perfect. "Nik, this beautiful young lady asked for an introduction."

The girl blushed right down the roots of her dark hair, "Rebekah!" she whispered, scandalized that her supposed friend had just outed her.

Klaus only smirked, "So nice to meet you, Carmella," he took one of her gloved hands and pressed a kiss to it. "Have you met my friend, Stefan Salvatore? He's a regular here."

"I haven't," Carmella dimpled politely at Stefan, but kept her eyes trained on Klaus. Well then. She had a specific target in mind. How quaint.

"You glass is empty, love," Klaus tutted with a scolding tone, sliding the cup away from her. "Let's see what we can do about that."

Together, they made their way to the bar. His new date wrapped herself around his arm like she was plastered to the thing; a sure sign that she'd be dead within the hour. The more eager they were, the less exciting it was for him to hunt them down later. He enjoyed having to win their affections before watching those new feelings turn to fear when he revealed his monstrous nature to them. Oh well, at least he'd get a decent meal out of the night.

Instead of making conversation while they sat at the bar, the girl seemed content to just stare at him. He knew himself to be a handsome man by today's standards, but silence was dull, and dull was death. Especially in the face of prohibition. It seemed it was up to him to make conversation.

"Carmella," he let the name roll off his tongue, "That's not your usual Sally, Jane, or Betsy. Where on earth did your parents come across a name like that?"

"Oh," she looked down at her drink and blushed, "Well honestly, it's not my real name."

Klaus rolled his eyes. Figured. Americans these days were all fizzle and no flash. "So you chose it for yourself then?"

"I did," Carmella smiled, excited to be able to tell the story. "My father was stationed in Cuba during the war, and he wrote home to tell us about all the people he met there. A nurse named Carmella was a close friend of his, and he still speaks of her fondly. I've loved the name ever since. Much better than Anne…"

He tried his hardest not to laugh, he truly did, but a chuckle bubbled out regardless. From what Klaus knew of soldiers and war, an exotic nurse who made nice with a wounded soldier abroad was no 'close friend'. This poor girl had chosen the stage name of her father's mistress, and it was the funniest thing Klaus had heard in years. The small chuckle snowballed into roaring laughter and Carmella was left sitting there, not knowing whether to laugh along at the joke she didn't understand, or storm away in humiliation.

"Please forgive my husband," he heard Caroline's voice behind him, directed at poor Carmella. "He has the sense of humor of a chimp on his best days, and the manners of bull on his worst."

"Husband?" Carmella looked worried now. She'd snagged a man that was already taken.

"Estranged," Caroline assured her, leaning up against the bar and signaling the man behind it for another drink.

Klaus took the opportunity to lean over and tuck a strand of escaped hair behind Caroline's ear, making sure to trail his hand over her neck and down her arm suggestively. "Not _so_ estranged, are we?"

"Stop," Caroline shook him off, looking over her shoulder to where Enzo stood waiting. Her new paramour looked murderous, but he would never make a move. Not against an Original who could tear him to pieces at the slightest provocation. "I wish you wouldn't try to rile him up," she complained. "I don't care how amusing it is for you and Stefan, it's damn irritating to have the same fight with him every night, convincing him that you have no claim on me."

Klaus absently noticed Carmella grab her drink and excuse herself. Apparently she wasn't all that interested in witnessing a lover's spat. Damn, Caroline had cost him his meal.

"But I do have a claim on you," Klaus stood up, leaning in to whisper in her ear and delighting in the way Enzo's face lit up like a Christmas tree behind her. Just for the hell of it, he let his arm slide around Caroline's waist to play with the skirt of her dress. "I've claimed you many, _many_ times over the years, and he knows it. It's why he's so bloody insecure all the time, and it's why you'll never truly be his…"

Caroline turned toward him, and her breath caught as their cheeks brushed together. His eyes nearly slid shut at the proximity. This was the closest she'd allowed him to come to her in years, and his heart sped up the moment their gazes locked. He leaned down, finally allowing himself believe that she might somehow let him-

A cold splash of champagne flew in his face, and he reeled back, spluttering as the ghastly stuff went up his nose. Caroline cracked the flute over his head for good measure. The glass cut into his scalp and shattered in his hair.

"Agh!" he gasped in pain, picking a bloodstained shard out of the mess. He could hear Caroline giggle as she walked away, her arm raised up and fingers waggling in a teasing wave even as she kept her eyes forward. "Bloody gremlin!"

The nickname did not endear him to her as it once had, and she kept walking back towards Enzo. The dark haired Brit slung his arm over her shoulder, gave Klaus a mock salute, and then turned the both of them around to leave. Together they slipped out the club through the back exit.

Klaus fumed and pulled his suit coat tighter around him. A few onlookers were still snickering with laughter, but he ignored them. He didn't need to care about the opinions of food. Glancing back over to his booth, he saw Rebekah and Stefan were engaged in an amorous round of necking - not the bloody kind - and would therefore be poor company for the rest of the evening. His eyes roved the corners instead, looking for someone to feast on. They fell on Carmella again, the sweet little girl whose real name was Anne, and her gaze flitted away when it found his. A rejection.

Wasting no time, Klaus angrily stormed over to her, grabbing her face and looking her in the eye. "Come with me. Don't talk.

As always, his prey obeyed his orders perfectly. Compulsion was a saving grace on nights like these.

He half dragged her out of the club that night, and the next morning it was his kill instead of Stefan's that made the papers. He'd taken a page out of the ripper's handbook and torn sweet Carmella's head right off her shoulders after he'd had his fill.

He truly hated this godforsaken town.

* * *

><p>Caroline vividly remembered the night they'd all met Stefan Salvatore.<p>

She'd smelled his latest victim on him the moment he walked into the room, just as she had the three nights before that. His rampant bloodlust had been quite a turnoff for her, but Rebekah had been intrigued. More than intrigued really, she'd been besotted. So Caroline had watched from a distance as Rebekah played him like a fiddle, eventually leading him to one of the darker booths to feed on a waitress together.

The whole thing seemed rather crass to her, though she couldn't really judge too much. Enzo had been her constant companion for months at that point, and he loved a good snack as much as the next vampire. He'd never been called a ripper though, and that was precisely the reason Caroline had taken up with him in the first place.

Niklaus was out of control.

She understood why of course, she was in a world of pain herself. The loss of a loved one was always painful, but this had been different. They'd been truly happy in New Orleans, the whole family. For the first time in centuries, since they'd all just been peasant children playing in the woods, they were carefree and peaceful and content. And also for the first time, they had accepted someone new into the ranks as one of their own. And he'd been brutally ripped away from them.

For months, all Caroline had wanted to do was set the world on fire and then drink it dry. Rage and pain and heartbreak consumed her. But eventually, she'd come to her senses and pulled herself out of the agony to return to the world of the living. A girl could only wallow in death and sorrow for so long before it ruined her, and eternity was a long time to grieve. Sadly, Klaus had not achieved the same level of self-actualization. He'd slaughtered and butchered his way up the Eastern Seaboard before they finally settled into Chicago as their new home. At some point, Caroline had realized that her husband was gone, replaced by the monster that liked to wear his face. It happened occasionally over the centuries, and the only remedy was to simply wait it out. Wait for her Niklaus to return to her.

But that didn't mean she had to wait alone. Solitude had never been Caroline's strongest suit, and a charming young vampire named Lorenzo had offered his arm for a dance one night. The rest was, as they put it, history.

They'd been dancing that night too, Enzo's hand at the small of her back, and Caroline's cheek pressed to his neck.

"A more squirrely sort of man might find it intimidating that his dance partner's husband was glaring at him so intensely from across the floor," Enzo murmured softly into her hair.

"Ignore him," Caroline urged.

From his spot on the balcony, Klaus at least attempted to appear unfazed by her adultery. Maybe it was guilt or grief or a combination of the two (hell, maybe it was plain 'I don't give a damn'), but for some reason, he let her have her dalliance, and she was glad for it. They were in such an awful place these days. _Irreconcilable differences_ the humans called it. That sounded about right.

Enzo chuckled. "Hard to ignore a man who looks like he's contemplating breaking off my thumbs and serving them to me for dinner. I think he's a might territorial."

Caroline leaned back, grabbing his chin and tugging his gaze away from Klaus and back down to her. "Nik and I are just two strangers who've endured the centuries together at this point. That man wouldn't know love if it walked up and slapped him in the face. But you, Enzo… you have so much passion inside of you. So much capacity for love. _You_ are who I chose."

She pulled him down for a kiss, and he welcomed it. "Whatever you say, darling."

They stayed nuzzled together, swaying back and forth, and Caroline breathed it all in. It had been so long since she'd just enjoyed the simple pleasure of holding someone, and having them hold her back. These were the little things that you forgot to remember as the decades slid by. It might not have been love between her and Enzo, but it was enough. He was young and new, and he helped her feel new too. Yes, that was enough.

Their intimate embrace must have finally set Klaus off because she could feel the air in the room shift as the most powerful being on the planet stormed his way across the room. Thankfully, he didn't head for Caroline and Enzo, but rather for his sister and her new beau in the opposite corner. Klaus always did have a nasty habit of lashing out at Rebekah's pets when he was in a mood.

"It's late Rebekah, we're leaving," Klaus barked as he grabbed his sister by the arm and dragged her away from Stefan.

"Get off me," she yanked her arm back.

Stefan, cocky and combative as ever, stood up to defend his new lover. "Who is this guy?"

"Stefan don't, he'll kill you." Rebekah warned and jumped in between them. "Nik's a lot stronger than he looks," she tacked on bitterly.

Caroline bit her lip, keeping a close eye and ear on the scene they were causing. Klaus had murder in his eyes, and Stefan was dumb enough to tempt fate and egg it on. There were more than enough uncompelled humans in the room to start a ruckus if things went south, and Caroline did not relish the screaming that would break out if Klaus decided to rip Stefan's arms off and toss them into the middle of the dance floor. It wasn't her business though, and Klaus was not hers to rein in. Not anymore.

"So this is the famous Stefan Salvatore I've been hearing so much about," Klaus smirked, his voice low and threatening.

Stories of the _Ripper of Monterey_ had been spreading across the country, and it hadn't taken long to connect the dots between headless, bloodless bodies and an out of control vampire that had randomly popped up in their little gin joint. Caroline prayed for Rebekah's sake that Klaus didn't see Stefan as a threat to their evasion of Mikael, or this would be the girl's shortest relationship yet. Two hours had to be a record of some sort.

Klaus ignored Stefan though, focusing on his sister instead. "I'm bored. I want to go," he commanded.

"Then go without me," Rebekah suggested cattily, "I'm not your girlfriend." To add insult to injury, Rebekah's eyes drifted over to where Caroline danced in the arms of another man.

She saw her husband's shoulders tense and could practically hear him fuming from across the crowded club. A deadly aura came over Klaus, and Caroline mentally scolded Rebekah for agitating him. "No, you're my sister," he whispered threateningly, "Which means you have to do as I say."

Klaus pulled Rebekah around to stand in front of him, his right grip a threatening reminder on her arm. For her part, Rebekah looked like she was about to lose it and sink the nearest piece of cutlery into Klaus' neck. In public, when appearances called for it, she was the demure and obedient little sister. Happy to play her part. But this was not one of those times, and there was nothing Rebekah loathed more than Klaus pulling rank on her.

Able to recognize two trains on a collision course, Caroline heaved a great sigh, knowing it was up to her to stop them. Enzo raised an eyebrow when she pulled herself out of his arms, but she didn't bother explaining. She only flashed up to the booth that housed the two Original siblings, quicker than the human eye could catch.

"Enough," Caroline hissed. "I happen to like this city, and if you two start throwing your weight around, we're going to have to flee. _Again_."

Klaus and Rebekah didn't break their heated staring contest, and for a moment Caroline thought she might have to tear them apart by their ears. Eventually though, Klaus relaxed, backing away and scooping Caroline's hand up to give it a quick kiss. "Anything for you, sweetheart."

She tore it out of his grasp quickly, but not quickly enough to keep from feeling her skin burn where his lips touched.

He smirked as she walked away, and she felt his eyes following her all the way back down the stairs. Enzo was waiting for her, amicable as always, but less so than before. He was brave, certainly, for taking up with Caroline right under her Original husband's nose, but there was a fine line between courage and stupidity. His jealousy over Klaus would get him killed one day if he wasn't careful.

"Everything all right, gorgeous?" he asked charmingly.

"It is now," she smiled and accepted the drink he offered her.

In the distance, she heard Rebekah smoothing things over between Klaus and Stefan. The girl must have done her job gloriously because Klaus chose to slide into their booth with them, deigning to chat with Stefan about this and that. When Stefan decided to prove himself worthy of Rebekah by forcing an innocent man to drink his own wife's blood, Caroline turned her head to ignore them. This was getting out of hand.

Enzo knocked his drink back, and pursed his lips together like he desperately wanted to say something. The extra shot of bourbon must have given him the nerve because he barreled on with question. "If I asked you to hit the road with me… head to New York or Philadelphia even, what would you say?"

"Run away with you?" Caroline giggled thinking it was a joke. When he didn't laugh along, her smile slowly slipped from her face. "You're not serious?"

"Dead serious, actually."

She ignored the pun and heaved a great sigh, placing her drink back on the bar and turning to straighten Enzo's bow tie. "That's not an option."

"Why not, Caroline?" Enzo demanded. "All you do here is play nanny to two psychopaths – now three – sleep all day, and drink champagne all night. There's got to be more out there for you than this."

"Those psychopaths are my family," she warned him, her grip on the piece of fabric around his neck tightening ever so slightly.

He just shook his head, and for the first time in months she saw a deep sadness in Enzo. Her carefree lover seemed truly exhausted for the first time, and a deep pain lurked behind his eyes. "Sometimes family isn't all it's cracked up to be, gorgeous. Sometimes they're just an anchor weighing you down. You need to know that it's all right to cut that anchor loose, if that's what's best for you."

Caroline thought about it then, and she would again many times again in the years to come. Just picking up and leaving, traveling the world with her new lover, seeing all the sights again through his new eyes. It seemed exciting and terrifying and thrilling to her. And for some strange reason… lonely.

Which is why she leaned in close to Enzo and pressed a quick peck to his cheek before whispering in his ear, "Don't ever ask me something like that again."

He shook his head in disappointment, but wisely sensed that the topic was not up for further discussion.

After that, they had returned to their night of jazz and booze, swinging and laughing the hours away. And in her drunken stupor, Caroline had fervently tried not to pay attention to the three other vampires in the room that were bound to get them all into trouble sooner or later.

Little did she know that it would be her actions that brought Mikael down upon them again.

* * *

><p><strong>I feel like I need to duck and cover, or maybe enter witness protection or something...All of you people were sooooo worried that Klaus would cheat on Caroline, no one bothered to ask if maybe <em>she<em> would be the one to break her vows.**

**Some of you might catch on to the reason why they're so estranged, since I dropped as small hint into this chapter. More on that later.**

**For those of you who are super astute, you will notice that Stefan did in fact meet Caroline in the 20s, but he doesn't recognize her in Mystic Falls. There is a reason for that, and we'll get there. As for all the other stuff... I just couldn't resist pulling in a little Carenzo. They are too awesome. While they _are_ romantic in this fic, you'll see in the next chapter that like in canon, he is more of a support system for Caroline than anything else. They might be sexing it up - hey it's the 20s - but more than anything, he is a friend and an anchor for her in a time when Klaus is wildly out of control.**

**And if you don't think it wasn't a struggle every time to write tumbler instead of tumblr... oh boy.**


	11. 1923 AD - Part 2

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything belonging to TVD or TO belongs to the CW

_A/N: Hi friends! In this chapter we get a good peak inside Klaus and Caroline's heads as to why things panned out the way they did. Neither of them are being particularly devoted or loving spouses, and it's just compounding the more they needle at each other. Fair warning, there is Carenzo in this chapter. I will ask that you guys remember one thing:**  
><strong>_

**PLEASE REMEMBER TO BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL WHEN REVIEWING.**

_I got quite a few really hateful things thrown my way over the last chapter, and I don't want to see that happen again after this one. If you give your opinion respectfully and eloquently then I'm happy to read it and even discuss. Anything hateful or rude towards characters or towards me will just get deleted. Please guys, show some restraint. Writing is my hobby and my passion, and I love my work. Even if you don't agree with it, please don't be crude or aggressive. Give me honest feedback, not hate.  
><em>

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><p><strong>1923 A.D - Part 2<strong>

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><p>Caroline would never understand why as a vampire, she wasn't immune to hangovers.<p>

The Black Death? No problem. The Spanish Influenza? Not a sign or a symptom. But one night guzzling back too much gin and champagne, and she was stuck in bed all morning, bemoaning her pounding head and queasy stomach. She supposed it was another of nature's little tricks. If she had the privilege of getting drunk, then she could not be immune to the consequences of its aftermath. Damn that insufferable balance and every witch who obeyed it.

"I can see you cursing my ancestors, you know," Gloria's voice mumbled from the chaise across the room.

Caroline groaned, even the smallest sound pounding at her head like a croquet mallet. "Of all the witches in Chicago, I had to get the mind reader," she complained.

"I'm no mind reader," Gloria grumbled, her thick accent coming out even thicker with early morning sleepiness. It didn't stop her from sounding unspeakably insulted though. "That's a cheap parlor trick and insult to magic. My ability is much more refined, I read-"

"Read the auras and interpret the fluctuations, yes, yes, we've all heard it a thousand times, darling," Enzo popped his head up from the sheets next to her. "Morning, gorgeous."

He leaned in to kiss her sweetly, and Caroline let him. A lazy morning in bed with her man sounded like just the ticket to cure this particular hangover.

"None of that in my bed, please," Gloria snapped, reading her aura again. "You're my guests, and that is terribly rude."

Caroline laughed but pushed Enzo off of her. Gloria was right. She'd allowed them to come crashing into her apartment above the club last night, even offering up her own bed to them in drunken benevolence. It would be unseemly to take advantage of her kindness. And she was far too nauseous to get up to that kind of activity anyways. They'd overindulged last night, but it had seemed like the best option by far. After Niklaus had practically chased them out of the club, Caroline and Enzo had hit up three more gin joints before returning for a late night snack. Feeding from the regulars at Gloria's was always the safest option, and so long as they compelled the coppers away on occasion, the deal between them stayed amicable. Gloria looked the other way, and in exchange she got to keep the most successful speakeasy in the city up and running.

Though that was the case less and less these days, as more girls ended up dead in alleyways.

Niklaus and Stefan needed to be dealt with.

Caroline only wished that they had not lost touch with Elijah. He had always known what to do when Klaus got like this. There was a connection there, an indescribable and unbreakable bond between brothers, forged through fire and blood. Whatever deep and fearsome love Klaus had for Caroline, it would always be infinitesimally trumped by the love he had for his siblings. A fact that Caroline had been trying and failing to accept for the past 900 years. Elijah could talk sense into Klaus when Caroline couldn't, and no matter how much she would have appreciated his intercession right about now, she would always be bitter for it. Niklaus was her husband, her lover, her eternal companion, and the two brothers too often built up their boys club and kicked her out of it. It was as though they were children again and the two Mikaelson boys were determined to keep her out of the horse paddock.

"Thinking deep thoughts again?" Enzo slid back into bed with her, a glass of water in each hand.

"Always," Caroline smirked, hoping her lackadaisical answer was enough to dissuade him from asking more.

Ever the gentlemen, Enzo handed one water to her and the other to Gloria before venturing back into the kitchen for whatever leftover blood they had lying around. Gloria was nothing if not well stocked. It would be stale and disgusting, but better than dragging herself out of bed to find an unsuspecting victim on the streets.

When he returned, it was with the morning paper and a deeply set frown.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked though she dreaded to hear the answer.

Enzo just sighed and slapped the paper down on the sheets for her to read. She didn't have to look beyond the headline to see what had him in such a terrible mood. **_RIPPER VICTIM FOUND IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN. POLICE HAVE NO LEADS_**.

"Stefan strikes again," Enzo deadpanned.

"That's the sixth one this month," Gloria sighed, and Caroline could tell that she'd reached her wits end. Witches kept the balance of nature, and just because Gloria found it in herself to deal and drink with vampires on occasion, that didn't mean that she had the same disrespect for human life that they did. If they didn't stop Stefan soon, they'd find themselves on the bad end of a desiccation spell, and that was not on Caroline's agenda for the week.

"Let's take a look," Caroline grabbed the paper and read on.

The girl was one Anne Richards, cute, petite, brunette, and so very young. Barely seventeen. Caroline had been seventeen once, and it had ended in blood and heartbreak too. Though not so badly as it had for Anne, perhaps. Reading through the article, she gathered that the girl's head had been ripped right off her body, and there had barely been enough blood left in her to cause a mess. A homeless man had found her just after midnight, and he was being held for questioning, but the police doubted he had anything to do with it. Why would they, when Stefan had been leaving victims for them to find for months now?

Stealing a glance at Gloria again, Caroline saw the set of her shoulders and the determination in her eyes. Stefan was done in Chicago. "I'll take care of it, Gloria," Caroline promised. "Today."

* * *

><p>After a lovely lazy morning with friends - which was actually an afternoon considering how late they'd all woken up - Caroline struck out on her own. Rebekah and Klaus owned an apartment on the lower west side, but thankfully she wouldn't have to venture there for what she wanted. No, her errand today was to a seedier neighborhood, in the heart of downtown. Stefan's apartment remained empty all night every night, but during the day it housed sleeping vampires and one or two dead school girls. Caroline could even smell the spilled blood from the hallway, as she climbed the stairs.<p>

Knocking firmly on the door, she heard a quiet scuffling inside and a grumble or two. It seemed Stefan was still sleeping it off.

The door swung open and revealed the utter mess that was Stefan Salvatore. Blood still painted his chin and shirt collar, his eyes were blurry from sleep and booze, and his hair was in disarray. Probably from being helplessly tugged at as he drank another victim dry. On cue, she peered around him to find not one but two cold bodies strewn out on the floor inside. Lovely.

"Caroline," he sounded a little panicked, looking at her with something between confusion and alarm, "This is a surprise. I... didn't expect you here."

"You and me both," Caroline drawled, side stepping him and entering the apartment like she owned it. Looking around she shot a quick prayer of thanks to the heavens that she didn't. The place was a dump. Though, some white curtains here, and dash of yellow paint there- she was getting off topic.

Stefan pulled his face back together quickly enough, smiling at her with all the charm and charisma in the world. "Can I get you a drink?"

"It's a little early for a drink, and I think you've had enough for both of us," she motioned to the bodies at her feet. Caroline made sure to let him see the disgust on her face as she stepped over them to sit herself on his couch.

"Ah, time for clean up," Stefan moved to pick the young couple up off the floor, but Caroline held up her hand.

"Leave them," she ordered sharply.

Stefan obeyed, hearing in her tone that she was not in the mood for chit chat or body disposal, and knowing when he was outmatched. Say what you want about those Salvatore boys - and she _had _heard tales of the other one - they were smart fellas. It was the only way you lasted long as a vampire, by any means. Stupid got you caught and killed, by hunters or other vampires, and Stefan had lasted over fifty years on his own. That keen sense of self-preservation kept him alive, and right now it kept him quiet. Caroline admired that in a vampire, which was the only reason the man in front of her wasn't currently staring at his own insides.

Putting on her a friendly smile, Caroline decided to start off with the easiest option. Kindness.

"I know we got off on poor footing, you and I," she did her best to sound good and sorry about that fact, "But seeing as you're such close friends with Niklaus, I feel strangely... protective of you Stefan."

"Is that right?" he looked at her doubtfully.

"Of course," Caroline reassured him. "Just because you and I don't get along, it doesn't mean I don't see how close you and Nik are. I'd hate for him to lose such a close friend, and so I'm worried for you."

Stefan eyes his guest suspiciously but played along. "And what's got you worried, Care?"

"Well," she ground her teeth together at the annoying nickname. "You might not be familiar with vampire hunters, Stefan, but I am. They look for headlines and tabloid reports just like the ones that are circulating through Chicago these days."

For emphasis, Caroline pulled out a folder she'd compiled for this exact purpose. Inside was every newspaper clipping, missing persons flyer, and incident report in the last two years that she'd allocated to Stefan. Stories of bloodless bodies and women ripped to shreds stuffed the folder to bursting. She passed it to Stefan, and he flipped through it all with wide and excited eyes.

"I had no idea you were such a fan," he threw her a cocky smile.

"I appreciate a good artist as much as the next Original," Caroline lied through her teeth. Two hundred years ago, she would have loved Stefan. She'd been going through a dark period herself, and he would have been just her cup of tea. Now though? He disgusted her. "Rebekah, Klaus, and I can walk away from an encounter with one of these hunters. You can't. Subtlety is key for a young vampire. Understand? I'm just trying to be a good friend here and point you in the right direction." she smiled hopefully.

Stefan actually had the gall to laugh out loud. "Friend? We're not friends sweetheart, so drop the nice act. It doesn't suit you."

The smile dropped from her face and all illusions of friendship disappeared. Fine. Time for Plan B then. It was much less... kind.

Primly crossing her legs, Caroline arranged her skirt a bit before breaking the silence. "It's time for you leave Chicago, Stefan."

"Is it?" he grinned, acting as if she were joking.

"Yes," her firm gaze told him that if he laughed, it would be on his own head. "I'm afraid we haven't been very honest with you, my family and I, and that's not going to change. We have secrets. Secrets we'd like to keep, and your... flamboyant attitude is putting those secrets at risk. So, now that you've had your fun, I think it would be best if you broke ties and looked for greener pastures. I hear California is nice this time of year."

Stefan swallowed and narrowed his eyes. He couldn't quite decide if she was serious, she could tell. That hint of a smile lingered on his lips, and the wheels in his head were turning. Caroline sighed hopelessly. Vampires with their emotions turned off were such a bother. They never thought things through, and they were prone to making silly mistakes with their lack of inhibitions driving their choices. Challenging her on this would be a mistake. She hoped he knew that.

"Why the sudden mandate, doll?" Stefan laid it on thick. "Don't tell me you're sick of me already?"

"Already?" Caroline laughed. "I've endured you for two years, I think I've earned a reprieve, don't you?"

Stefan just laughed, "Two years is nothing for us, you know that better than anyone." He took his life in his hands and sunk down on the the couch with her. He was smart enough to keep his paws to himself, but Stefan still leaned in close. "I think maybe you're just trying to keep me away from Nik. You thinking about trying to housebreak him again?"

Caroline's arm shot out, and her hand wrapped around his throat. "Whatever gave you the impression that you could talk about my husband like that?" she growled, letting her eyes shine red and the full weight of her anger sink in. "You're nothing, Stefan. Just a lapdog that Klaus likes to toy with and Rebekah likes to pet on occasion. You'll be lucky to survive the decade if you keep up with us, and we both know it," she squeezed a little tighter and Stefan choked, both his hands tearing at her arm like he had any hope of pulling her off. He didn't.

"Caro-line," Stefan coughed pathetically. She ignored him.

"Because I'm feeling benevolent, I'm going to let you breath in a minute. But first, you're going to nod your head and tell me that you'll do exactly as I say, hmm?"

Stefan tried one last time to yank himself away from her, but it was pointless. When he started to go blue, she saw him quickly nod, and she released him. He fell off the couch, gasping for breath and clutching his throat. Something was probably crushed in there because he took much longer recovering than he should have. When he'd finally composed himself, he looked up to her from the floor, a modicum of respect in his eyes. Good. She enjoyed him better like this. Contrite, silent, and groveling at her feet.

"Very good, Stefan. You're learning. Now," Caroline relaxed back into the couch, still pining him to the floor with her gaze. He stayed where he was like a good little pet. "I've bought you a train ticket out of town tonight, called your landlord and told him to sublet the apartment, and I've even contacted a friend out in California who would _love_ to meet a charming young man like you. I think you'll like Francesca, and she'll be a good influence on you. Nod your head, Stefan."

He nodded, but his face had darkened heavily. Apparently he didn't care for her managing his affairs, but he really had no choice in the matter.

"I know you don't like me much," he grumbled, barely containing his ire for her. "But can I ask what the hell this is all about? Klaus is the one who pissed you off last night, not me."

Caroline scoffed, "After that girl you left in the alley, you really have to ask? It's all over the papers, Stefan."

Surprisingly, Stefan just chuckled and shook his head. "Oh sweetheart," he laughed heartily, "You've got it all turned around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she was getting tired of his attitude and considered choking the life out of him again.

"You can see I ate my dinner right here in this apartment last night," Stefan motioned to the dead couple on the floor beside him. "I may be a bloodthirsty bastard, but three drained bodies in one night is a little much even for me. No, Caroline, I had nothing to do with that girl."

"Her head was ripped off," Caroline accused, not willing to admit that she was just the smallest bit unsure of herself. "Forgive me if I jumped to conclusions that the current _ripper_ was responsible."

He continued to chuckle, finally dragging himself off the floor. The nearest bottle of bourbon found its way into his hands, and he took a long pull from the thing. Caroline wrinkled her nose. When he faced her again, it was with a grand old smile on his face. "You might want to ask your _dearly beloved_ about that one. I think you'll find the conversation... enlightening."

An awful feeling sank into Caroline's gut. It had been Klaus. Her little scene last night had actually driven him to tear into a girl with such ferocity that she'd mistaken him for a ripper. Worse, he'd left the body for anyone to find, as part of his and Stefan's little murder game with the Chicago Police Department. She couldn't believe he would be so reckless. They'd just made a home here after ditching Mikael's pursuit less than a decade ago. He would still be hot on their trail and this blatant display of vampire behavior would surely draw him to the city. Did her husband have a death wish? Had her affair finally convinced him that eternity was pointless and death would be a release? She feared for the day that was true.

Standing up, she focused back on Stefan. "I don't care who did it, you two are going to get us all killed. Leave tonight, Stefan. Or deal with me."

Stefan toasted her on her way out, but his cocky grin was back in place and his confidence renewed. If he went to Klaus and bargained for protection from her, there was no way he was getting on that train tonight, and then they would all be in trouble.

* * *

><p>"You don't need any more dresses, Bekah, you have at least three closets full of them," Klaus complained loudly as he slouched in the back seat of their cab.<p>

"I never said I needed them, I said I wanted them," she smiled at him cordially. "And as my doting big brother, it's your duty to accompany me, so I don't get lonely."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Can't you drag one of your girlfriends along on this pointless expedition? I don't relish spending an entire afternoon sitting around waiting for you to come in and out of a dressing room."

"I've got one friend in this world, and you've scared her off," Rebekah scolded.

Klaus fumed but wisely kept his mouth shut. He had scared Caroline off. She and Rebekah had been thick as thieves for nine centuries, and nothing could change that. But whenever their relationship took a turn for the rocks, Rebekah kept to Klaus' side, and Caroline was left on her own. He liked to believe that Rebekah stuck with him out of loyalty or because he was so obviously in the right during their little quarrels, but he knew the real reason was probably fear.

Fear of being daggered and shoved in a box for wavering in her devotion to the brother that had looked after her all these years.

To be honest, all of his siblings feared him in one way or another. Rebekah feared his wrath, Kol feared his conscience, and Elijah feared that he would one day lose his soul. Finn probably would have feared him too, but he'd been rotting away in a box long enough that no one ever considered waking up him. But Caroline... Caroline refused to fear him. Even after all the loss and betrayal and pain, she would not do it. He'd daggered her often enough, but every time she woke, it was with a new determination to either redeem him or to make his life miserable. It was really a roll of the dice which one he would get each time, and he secretly welcomed the suspense.

Her newest form of torture came in the shape of her silly tryst with Enzo.

He hated that man more than anything in the world. Not because he was sleeping with his wife - though that did make up a bulk of the reasoning if he was honest - but because Caroline had picked him so carefully. His charming accent, his kind eyes, the roguish grin, and the tendency to teeter on the edge of morality. These were all things that she loved about _Klaus_. Caroline loved to push him over that line and draw him back. She loved that he was spirited and brash, but still able to care deeply about others when presented with the right opportunity. Enzo was all of these things with one major difference.

He wasn't broken like Klaus was.

He was not lost to grief and misery and sorrow, letting it eat him up inside and twist everything about. These days Klaus refused to even speak his name, but he felt Marcel's absence with every passing hour. Caroline had moved on, or at least made a good show of doing so, but he could not. There was a rage and a despair inside of him that could only be soothed by inflicting the same sort of pain on others, and his wife could not stomach it; could not bear to watch him sink further into the depths of cruelty and violence. So she chose to spend her time with Enzo. She chose the man Klaus could have been if he'd just allowed himself to be. And that stung.

"Oh, don't pout," Rebekah drew him out of his own thoughts. "If it makes you feel better, I'll let you eat one of the shop girls?"

He answered her teasing grin with one of his own. Best not to let her know his bad mood was about anything other than irritation over a shopping venture. "Deal," he held out his hand for her to shake in her own.

A few hours later, somewhere around his fourth sigh of boredom and his third sales assistant, Stefan decided to crash their retail party.

"Excellent timing, mate," Klaus welcomed him like a brother, "Take my place on this shopping excursion, and I'll pretend that I didn't hear you and Bekah at it last night in bathroom. I've killed men for less, so you'd be getting the good end of the bargain, honestly."

Stefan did not laugh with him like he expected. Instead he huffed and paced a bit before sitting down opposite Klaus. His irritated mood explained itself when he pulled a folder out of his jacket pocket and waved it in front of Klaus' face. "Your girl paid me a visit today," he tossed the thing in Klaus lap. "She wants me gone."

"Does she?" Klaus sighed, wondering how Caroline could still insert herself into his affairs when she was supposed to be shunning him. Mystery.

He opened the folder and flipped through the contents. It seemed Caroline had had herself a little research project, complete with timelines and annotated margins. He smiled at her neuroses. That girl could have been a scholar ten times over if the schools had just been open to her. These days she was too busy stewing, but one day he was sure there would be endless degrees lining the walls of their home.

"She made it pretty clear that the options were leave or die," Stefan interrupted his train of thought. "Bought me a train ticket and everything."

Well that was a pity. He was rather fond of Stefan. Klaus had an idea where this sudden drive to get Stefan out of the city had come from. They'd eaten their way through more drunken socialites than usual this month, and very few of them had walked away from the encounters. Drinking their fill was a bit different than drinking the city to death. Caroline had apparently reached her limit, and she clearly thought doing away with Stefan's bad influence was the key to solving the problem.

The folder made a grand tearing sound as Klaus ripped it down the center. He tossed the thing over his shoulder comically. "Looks like you're going to miss your train. Pity."

Stefan chuckled, but he was obviously still worried. "And when Caroline sees me at Gloria's tonight and decides to turn my eyeballs into earrings?"

"Afraid of a little, blonde flapper, Stefan?" Klaus laughed as if it were all in good fun. "I'm disappointed in you, ripper."

"That little, blonde flapper could destroy me with her pinky finger, and we both know it."

Klaus chuckled softly. Yes, that was true. If Caroline wanted Stefan out of his life, she would get her way eventually. One day the ripper would end up staked, or he would just disappear altogether. It really depended on Caroline's mood and how much of a fight the vicious young vampire put up for her.

Listening to Rebekah shuffle around inside the dressing room, Klaus considered his options. He had to play his hand carefully if he were to go up against Caroline and win. Enlisting his sister's help in dealing with his wife was a possibility. Rebekah loved Stefan - or imagined herself in love at least - and any harm to befall the boy would go over poorly with the girl. Unfortunately, thanks to him Rebekah was all too used to her siblings murdering her lovers, and while she might have deep feelings for Stefan, her longing to welcome Caroline back into the fold was stronger. He couldn't be sure that given the choice between Stefan and Caroline, Rebekah wouldn't choose to reconcile with her sister. So Rebekah was out, being an unreliable ally at best.

Klaus' next option would be to give his wife an ultimatum. If anything happened to his new pal, then he would ensure her little paramour met a bloody end. Mutually assured destruction typically worked in these situations. But again, he saw the flaw in that argument. He'd been wanting to kill Enzo for two years now, and he hadn't. Caroline knew Klaus allowed the bastard to live because he wanted her favor back, and his bluff to kill a man was just that; a bluff. It was an empty threat, no matter what fate befell Stefan, and Caroline knew that.

His best option was also the most unappealing.

Undaggering Kol was always a trial, but with the way things had gone down twenty years ago, his brother would wake with a vengeance. Plus a thirst for blood that rivaled even Stefan's. The phrase 'fighting fire with fire' came to mind when he pictured Kol and Stefan facing off in downtown Chicago. No matter what shenanigans Klaus and Stefan got up to, Caroline would be too preoccupied chasing after Kol to deal with them. Juggling two rippers at once was too much for even a task master like Caroline to handle. Yes, this would solve their little dilemma. Caroline would be forced to choose which disaster to handle, and Kol would take precedence.

"Not to worry, Stefan," Klaus reassured his partner in crime. "I've got big plans for you, and they do not include a one way trip out of Chicago. Leave it to me."

Stefan didn't seem all that reassured, but he'd learn to trust eventually. In the meantime, Klaus had a family reunion to plan. It seemed Rebekah would need that new dress after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Ruh roh, does Kol sound like a really bad option to anyone else?<br>**

**I made the conscious decision to include Marcel in the narrative because I loved that potential of storyline on TO. He had such relevance in their NOLA history, and he clearly meant the world to Klaus at one point. It made perfect sense to me that after losing Marcel, Klaus would go on a torture binge with Stefan in the 20s, trying to prove to himself that he didn't care. That he was an emotionless monster and the pain he was feeling didn't exist. The problem with repressing your pain is you typically tend to lash out at others. You'll get to see Caroline and Klaus address this issue next chapter, and it's a pretty great confrontation. You begin to understand what drove her into Enzo arms, and exactly how hurt Klaus is by that choice.  
><strong>

**I hope this puts some of you at ease about the "cheating" thing. It's not that the Klaroline relationship has devolved and broken apart, it's just that they're both grieving and they can't seem to find a way to do it together. Parents who lose a child are ten times more likely to split up, and that's what has happened here.  
><strong>

REMEMBER TO REVIEW RESPECTFULLY!


	12. 1923 AD - Part 3

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything TVD or TO related belongs to the CW

_**A/N: In this chapter, **__**I wanted to paint a better picture of why Klaus felt so close to Stefan in the 20s, besides the typical blood-blood-blood stuff. So I expanded on that relationship a little bit. You also get to see a tiny peek at why Caroline needs Enzo in her life, and why he's filling that role instead of Klaus. I really drew on the Carenzo canon scenes for this chapter because you can really see how much he cares about her and her feelings.  
><strong>_

_**Oh and warning: everyone is totally and completely wasted in this part. Prohibition darlings :)**_

* * *

><p><strong>1923 A.D - Part 3<strong>

* * *

><p>The whirlwind of parties and jazz and gin continued on as always, and for a time it seemed the Originals had found their balance again. Stefan remained glued to Klaus' side more often than not, and Caroline kept a close watch on Enzo most nights. It seemed she'd anticipated his plan to go after her little friend and was determined to intervene, should he go on the attack.<p>

Klaus let her believe that was his next move, all the while waiting for the perfect moment to undagger Kol. Too soon after his and Stefan's little blood bath, and the activity would draw Mikael's attention. Too late, and he risked Caroline getting frustrated and offing Stefan herself. The timing had to be precise.

And it was quite fun to watch her squirm every time he made a sudden move in Enzo's direction.

If things went spectacularly well, the plan had the added bonus of potentially separating Caroline from her little pet. Kol was unpredictable at best, but more often than not he liked to run off on his own. If Caroline chased him... well that would leave poor Enzo in the dust, wouldn't it? It would be a shame if an accident were to befall the poor chap while Caroline was off cleaning up after Kol as he cut a bloody path through the states. Two rippers rampant in different parts of the U.S would create a lovely bit of confusion for Mikael too.

Unfortunately for his appetite, this particular plan required that he and Stefan abstain from their usual habits. A break in the bloodbath to lull the city into a false sense of security before a different ripper took center stage. Their kills had to take place in dingy little neighborhoods with humans no one would miss. An end to their game with the Chicago PD. Downright boring if you asked him. The only positive outcome from their new diet was that Gloria was happy. The killing in and around her club had stopped, and the patrons were as boozy and happy as ever. Keeping the resident witch in good spirits was not always necessary, but it was preferable. Klaus at least didn't need to be on the lookout for a nasty hex on top of everything else.

"Another round!" Stefan called out to the bartender, and two shots of whiskey slid down their way. They each knocked them back quickly, while Stefan signaled for another. They'd be roaring drunk by the time the band even took the stage at this rate.

"Are we drinking the city dry tonight then?" Klaus asked with a laugh.

"We can always try," Stefan grinned back.

Caroline's dulcet tones began to echo out over the club, and Klaus turned his head up to watch her. He settled in, a frown on his face and drink in his hand, ready to spend the next half hour burning a hole in the side of her head with his gaze. He was truly pathetic these days.

"Caroline said a funny thing the other day," Stefan spoke up, forcing him to tear his gaze away from his wife. "When she gave me that train ticket."

"She says a lot of funny things, my wife," Klaus slurred. "What was it this time?"

Stefan hesitated. Either the booze had gotten the best of him, or he was choosing his words _very _carefully. He spun his shot glass around a few times before plowing on, "She said your family had secrets. She said that my _behavior_ was going to get us all killed."

"Did she now?" Klaus narrowed his eyes. It seemed someone just couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"But you can't be killed," Stefan posed it more as a question than a statement. "Right?"

Klaus took a deep breath. Curiosity usually killed the cat, but it might be kinder to the ripper. Stefan had proven himself a dedicated friend and a loyal companion. There was certainly no love between them, but friendship? Camaraderie? Brotherhood? They had that in spades, emotions or no. Klaus found himself wanting to confide in Stefan. Even if only just a little.

The hybrid took his time deciding which tidbits to reveal and which to omit. "You'll notice I'm a bit different than Rebekah and Caroline? A little more… savage," he prompted. Stefan nodded slowly. "I don't suppose you've ever come across a werewolf, have you, Stefan?"

"Werewolf?" Stefan laughed. "Don't try to pull one over on me, buddy. Werewolves aren't real."

"Said the vampire," Klaus grinned.

Stefan's lips twisted in a wry grin. "Fair point. So what then? You're a wolf?"

"In part," Klaus confirmed and watched Stefan's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He hadn't actually expected Klaus to say yes. "Not all wolf, nor all vampire. Maybe I'm a thousand different monsters all rolled up into one? No way to know for sure."

"And that's the big secret?" Stefan frowned, almost as if he were disappointed.

"The secret," Klaus lowered his voice even though there was not a soul listening, "Is that certain members of my little family frown on that mixing of bloodlines. I'm the mistake, the bastard, the secret shame of the family," he fingered his empty glass and signaled for another. "They'd rather see me dead by any means they can dream up than breathing the same air they do."

No names, no details, nothing to tie Stefan to anything dangerous to them. Just simple truths between friends sharing a drink. If Mikael ever did stumble across this Salvatore, he would know nothing of consequence. Not that Stefan would hesitate to give them up in a heartbeat if he ever came across the hunter. No allegiance between monsters. Klaus' eyes darted up to Caroline again, remembering the way that she'd stood between him and his father all those centuries ago. She'd protected him from Mikael's prejudice and rage. Kept the secret of his mother's death all this time. Thoughts like these assured him they would one day return to each other, when the grief and betrayal and guilt had abated.

The sight of Enzo lurking near the stage, hanging on Caroline's every word made him less sure. Even more so when she shot the bastard a sultry wink in the middle of her song.

"They're jealous," Stefan rambled on drunkenly. "Your family wants you dead because they can never be what you are."

Knocking back his fifth shot of the night, Klaus let the surliness take over. "What? An abomination." The insult that his father had flung at him eons ago always seemed to come back to haunt him.

"No," Stefan whispered, "A king."

Klaus turned to his friend, more than a little surprised. For the first time in centuries, someone knew the truth of what he was and didn't turn away in fear or revulsion. Stefan didn't think any less of him at all. He revered him. Called him a king. He couldn't stop the smile that spread slowly across his face. A genuine smile. One that hadn't graced his features since…

A drunken chuckle from Stefan as he grabbed Klaus' shoulder shook them out of the moment. The both of them nearly toppled right off their bar stools, which naturally had them laughing like fools.

"Look at us," Klaus ran a hand through his slicked back hair. "Two sad orphans."

Stefan grunted but somehow managed to take another sip of whatever had been put in front of him. His eyes wandered up to Rebekah, chatting and charming some poor sod up on the balcony. Klaus was surprised that he didn't find Stefan's attentions to his sister quite as infuriating as he normally did with her other suitors. Stefan was different somehow. More fitting for their family than the others.

Watching Rebekah smile coyly back down at her lover, Klaus found himself studying _her_ feelings with more scrutiny than Stefan's. For the first time in his life, he was not afraid of what another wayward partner would do to his poor sister's heart, but rather what she would do to Stefan's. What remained of it at least.

A quick peek at his own wife and her wicked ways reminded him that women were fickle creatures. Able to crush the minds of men under their heels if they chose to.

"My sister fancies you, you know," he whispered to Stefan, as if relaying a secret they didn't both already know. Stefan played along, shrugging off the implication as though it were nothing. Talking about feelings with a vampire who didn't have any was certainly difficult. "But," Klaus slurred, "I should warn you, Bekah doesn't do anything half-speed. That includes falling in love, so just be careful. She's totally mad."

Stefan chortled loudly at his serious tone. Their raucous laughter caught the attention of a few patrons, but what did they care? As far as Klaus – and the whiskey – was concerned, this was the greatest night of his life. Good friends, good booze, and more family on the way.

"I appreciate the advice," Stefan shook his head in amusement.

The dismissal did not satisfy Klaus. He wanted to warn his friend and he damn well would. He lost his joking tone, and replaced it with a more serious face. One that Stefan would not ignore. "When the point comes where she inevitably leaves you – she can't help it, it's just who she is – don't let your heart do anything stupid."

His advice was transparent as ever, and even Stefan turned to watch Caroline sway back and forth on the jazz stage. Feeling their eyes on her, Caroline's gaze snapped to the two of them, narrowing in suspicion. No doubt she thought they were planning some convoluted ruse to trick her instead of slurring on about broken hearts and fickle women. Stefan toasted her comically with his glass, and the stage lights were the only thing that saved Caroline's face from turning murderous. She'd never appreciated mockery.

He drew Stefan's attention back to the bar for the poor boy's own safety.

"You're a good friend, Nik," Stefan thanked him, offering him another shot. Honestly, the club would have nothing left if they kept on like this.

Thank god they were immortal or they were sure to drink themselves to death.

* * *

><p>Caroline watched Klaus with the eyes of hawk, ready to react at any second. She might as well have made a declaration of war when she'd tried to push Stefan out, but Klaus had been strangely nonchalant about the whole thing. He hadn't even spoken to her about it. She'd expected at least a threat of daggering or bleeding heart dropped on her doorstep. Those where his typical moves when he wanted to send a message.<p>

But days had gone by and still nothing.

She and her husband were locked in a standoff, neither willing to make the first move, but both of them knowing that a move had to be made regardless.

The lack of decapitations and torture games in the area could be described as move, if she broadened her scope. Caroline wasn't deluded enough to think that her little threat had gotten Klaus and Stefan to start toeing the line, but their kills had certainly gotten less violent and less frequent. That had surprised her, honestly. Half the reason Klaus kept Stefan around at all was his tendency to bite first and ask questions later. Reining in the murderous duo was exactly what she'd wanted, meaning it was exactly what Klaus would never have done.

He was planning something. She knew it.

"Uh oh," Enzo sighed, breaking her train of thought and running a finger down her cheek. "You have your murder face on. What's he done this time?"

Caroline smiled and lied through her teeth. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

All she got was an eye roll in return. Enzo played it off well like it was all a great big joke, but she could see him getting frustrated with her as the weeks dragged on. She became ever more fixated on her husband, while pushing the entire confrontation out of Enzo's reach. She could talk to him about anything. Her siblings, her grief, Mikael's relentless pursuit of them, hell even her sexual preferences. In return, he'd offered up stories of his own. His weak father, his controlling mother, and the wars he'd waged to finally break free of them. They were open books to one another, which was exactly what Caroline had needed during this time in her life. But the one thing she could not - would not - talk with Enzo about was Niklaus.

Her husband was off limits for discussion, and Enzo knew it.

"Well, if you're thinking about going over there, I'd warn against it," he advised. "It seems if they can't drown themselves in blood then they're determined to do it with bourbon instead. That's the fourth bottle they've made their way through, and drunk vampires are dangerous to even the best of us."

"Truer words..." Caroline agreed.

Still, something had to be done about this standstill.

Giving Enzo her biggest smile, Caroline turned to her date and gave him her best seductive smile. "I'm bored all of the sudden. Go get the car and we can turn in early tonight?"

"Mmm, I like the sound of that," Enzo grinned. An early night was typically code for a few rounds of incredible sex, and there was no easier way to throw a man off the scent than the promise of a lust-filled evening. That was what she was counting on at least. With a loud smack, Enzo popped a kiss on her cheek and then took off for the parking lot.

She waited for him to disappear out the side door before taking a deep breath and moving from her chair. Talking it out with Niklaus when he was in a slump had never worked in her favor before, but she had to try. Just once. If it ended without any progress, then they would resume their little war games and call it a day. But maybe, just this once, he would listen to reason, and they could start working on getting back on good terms.

It wasn't all that hard to catch his gaze - it seemed to be constantly trained on her these days, and Caroline made sure to lock eyes with him. She nodded to her left, where Gloria kept a few rooms unoccupied, and signaled that she wanted him to follow. And follow he did.

A small crashing sound behind her told her that her husband had knocked over a waiter in his eagerness to chase after her. Perhaps he was a bit drunker than she'd previously believed? Caroline pulled the velvet curtain away from the room that was reserved for "_burlesque"_ purposes, sitting herself primly on the chaise inside. She didn't have to wait long for Klaus to stumble his way in after her.

"Graceful as always," she droned.

He righted himself soon enough, though he remained a bit blurry-eyed. That wouldn't exactly be conducive to the kind of discussion she wanted to have, but Klaus could sober up with the best of them when he wanted to. He might be a bit more... loose lipped than usual, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Did you summon me back here to have your wicked way with me, love?" he grinned lecherously down at her while falling onto the chaise, a little too close for comfort.

Caroline scooted away with a glare. "Yes, after all these years, the sight of you drinking like a fish with the most annoying hanger-on I've ever met has finally made me see the error of my ways. Take me, Niklaus."

Her bland, sarcastic tone only made him smile wider. "Well then," he pulled a humorous face and placed a hand on her leg, waiting for it to get slapped away.

She grabbed that hand, but instead of tossing it away she held it firmly in her own. "I want us to talk, Nik. We _need_ to talk."

As expected, her husband sobered considerably at her serious tone. "The floor is yours," he motioned for her to get on with it.

"Thank you," Caroline swallowed heavily and bit her lip, going over the rehearsed lines in her head one more time. "I think you know by now that I suggested that Stefan take a small vacation?" she waited for him to nod, though he raised an eyebrow at the word 'suggested'. They both knew there had been nothing optional about her orders. "And I assume that since Stefan is still here you told him to ignore me?"

"Well, I couldn't have you shipping my closest friend off to the ends of the earth, now could I?"

"Oh, please, he was hardly going to-" Caroline cut herself off. They weren't here to fight, they were here to talk. Discuss. Like rational adults. "I'm concerned, that's all," she explained. "We know that Mikael is likely still stateside, and drawing so much attention to ourselves so soon after losing him in Louisiana... I just want to make sure that our family is safe."

Klaus shrugged and leaned back against the chaise. His arms splayed out atop the back of it, and he created the picture of relaxed complacence. "As you can see, the _attention_ has stopped. Don't say I never did anything for you."

"Ha!" Caroline exclaimed doubtfully. "Don't pretend for one minute you did this for me. You're playing your games, as usual."

"Maybe so, maybe not," Klaus held up his hands, weighing the options back and forth. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Caroline pinched the skin between her eyes in annoyance. She'd come in here to have a civilized discussion, hoping to negotiate a truce. All she got was drunken mockery and more childish head games. "Whatever you have planned," she spoke lowly, "Don't you dare put us in danger again, Nik. I've lost too much to that monster, I will not lose anything else."

"Don't!" Klaus shouted suddenly, slapping his hand on the table in front of them. "Don't you talk to me about what _you've_ lost. And don't ever tell me again that I'm not protecting my family," his voice came out as a growl, with barely contained rage just simmering under the surface. The muted music from the other side of the curtain was the only noise in their small little room for a moment, as they sat opposite each other, locked in a heated staring contest. Klaus finally broke the silence, "You have the nerve to twirl around this place, singing and dancing like the world is at your feet. You disappoint me, _wife, _and you dishonor my son's memory with every passing day."

"_He was my son too!_" Caroline screamed back at him, nearly shrieking.

Her lower lip trembled with the shuddering breath she released, and the force of it nearly knocked her over. Angry tears gathered in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. For his part, Klaus stayed silent, his face a perfect mask of calm to her distraught grimace. Eventually he looked away, shaking his head as though he'd barely noticed her outburst at all.

Caroline tried again. "I know you think I don't care. That I don't feel his loss as deeply as you, but I do. I think about him every day, Nik, and it's like a knife in my heart each time."

"Yes, I can tell you're so very broken up about it," Klaus rolled his eyes. "It's especially apparent when you're giggling like a fool in the arms of that imbecile."

"I will not apologize for finding solace in a man who would _listen_ to me," she argued. "A man who isn't too cowardly to even speak his name-"

Klaus reared up and grabbed her by the throat, effectively cutting her off. His grip was strong enough to frighten, but not so tight as to choke her. It was a warning. Simple and sure. The topic of Marcel had been more than taboo since his death. Klaus would not speak of him, think of him, or hear even a whisper of his name. Caroline knew this. It was what had forced them apart in their years on the run. She needed to talk, to mourn, to remember. And Klaus had cut her off at every turn, determined to pretend that Marcel hadn't even existed. It was easier for him to erase that child's existence from his memory than to deal with the sorrow he felt over his death.

In her pain, Caroline had let herself betray the man who she promised always to protect. She couldn't remember anymore if her relationship with Enzo had been an attack designed to hurt him, a comforting shoulder to cry on, or strategy meant to help her cope with it all. The emotions and motives all blurred together at this point. It had been mistake, she knew that much, but one she could not and would not apologize for.

"I am mourning the best way I know how," Caroline finally let her tears overflow. "And you forced me to do it alone."

Klaus scoffed harshly, "Forced you? I never forced you to spit on your son's memory by betraying his father. I never forced you to whore yourself-"

_SLAP!_

Caroline struck out at him with all the force she could muster. His grip never moved from around her neck, but she could hear the bones of his cheek crack back into place. She knew she'd shattered them, if only for a moment. His grip tightened on her throat ever so slightly, making her grind out her next words.

"You are the one who does Marcellus a dishonor," she hissed at him. "_You_ are the one he would be ashamed of."

That last dig signed her own death warrant, she knew it, but she felt compelled to say it all the same. They just couldn't seem to stop hurting each other lately.

Klaus stared wide eyed and raging at her, still reeling for her slap and her harsh words. His grip around her neck tightened ever so slightly, and Caroline braced for the inevitable. The anticipated snap of her neck never came though, and eventually Klaus gave her a not so gentle shove away from him as he released her.

"Your _boyfriend_ will be missing you," he murmured under his breath. "Best not to keep him waiting."

Caroline sucked in a shuddering breath. They couldn't leave things like this. For the first time in years they were talking about their son, just like she'd always wanted. Needed. She wouldn't give that up because of a few harsh words. "Niklaus, please just talk to me-"

"Get out of my sight, Caroline," Klaus hissed at her, blood rushing to his face and fangs descending, "Or you'll wish you had."

She wavered for only a moment before tearing out of the private room. The heavy velvet caught a few of her tears as she pushed through it, but the rest flowed freely down her face. On her frantic rush across the floor, she caught sight of Rebekah and Stefan, dancing their cares away. The perfect picture of young love. What a sham. Not even bothering to grab her coat, Caroline burst out of the club doors to the chilly alleyway outside. As expected, Enzo was sitting in the driver's seat of a shiny black car he'd no doubt commandeered for himself. She ran to it, throwing herself inside and into his arms.

"Caroline?" he questioned her, pulling back from her embrace to see her tear-soaked face better. One look at her, and he knew the cause. "Tell me he didn't do something stupid."

She shook her head, not able to even string two words together. She hadn't cried this hard in months. Years even. Sniffling softly, Caroline finally caught her breath. "Ask me again," she begged him, hiccuping softly.

"Ask you-"

"What I told you never to ask me," Caroline bawled. "Ask me again. Please."

Enzo's face closed off for a moment as he realized what she wanted. He cocked his head to the side in question, but she only nodded, urging him to go on. "Leave with me, Caroline," he gave her what she wanted. "Let's get out of here, you and me. Tonight."

Caroline closed her eyes and released a deep sigh of satisfaction. The hum of the car beneath her and the arms of the man in front of her soothed her in ways she couldn't explain. Peering through tearful lashes at the man who was not her husband, she breathed one quiet word.

"Yes."

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, and there's a really emotional chapter. That one hurt.<strong>

REMEMBER TO REVIEW RESPECTFULLY PLEASE!

**I've never liked daddy!Klaus, I want to make that very clear. The idea that someone as twisted and violent as Klaus could ever love and care for a child is beyond stupid. But I think his relationship with Marcel provided the perfect opportunity to skirt that issue and walk the line between sappy and realistic. Marcel spent the first 10 years of his life as a slave. A brutal, painful, awful kind of life. By the time he came to Klaus, he was impressionable, but not a child. You just can't hold onto your innocence in that kind of environment. So Klaus was a father figure, a mentor, a savior, and a friend, but never a daddy. He didn't hold a baby in his arms and coo at it, he didn't watch a toddler take her first steps. That's not what his relationship with Marcel was about. It was about two broken and discarded bastards finding a kindred spirit and molding that bond into a family.  
><strong>

**So yeah. Sorry if you don't like the idea of Klaus as a father, but I hope I explained my take on it well enough. And you _will _get to see the NOLA section where Klaus fosters and raises Marcel with Caroline. **


	13. 1923 AD - Part 4

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything regarding TO or TVD belongs to the CW

_**A/N: To be honest, this 20s section was supposed to be constructed a bit more elegantly. But for obvious reasons, my creative juices just tanked, and I couldn't find any joy or inspiration for these chapters.  
><strong>_

_**There is one message I want to make clear for any of you who think I'm either painting Klaus as a "wounded little bird" or painting Caroline as the "girl who can do no wrong". _**It's a tricky thing playing around with character POVs, because you have to drop yourself into the headspace of the character who is essentially narrating their own scene. In last chapter's fight, you're seeing the scene through Caroline's eyes. And Caroline is doing a really great job of throwing herself a pity party. You see it too, when you flip to Klaus' POV and he looks at her affair as an attack meant to hurt him and thinks she's being a selfish bitch. He just doesn't think he's done anything to deserve this. They're both operating with a lot of self-serving bias.**_ Please keep that in mind when you read these chapters. No one is innocent, and no one is blameless.**_

_PLEASE REVIEW RESPECTFULLY  
><em>

_**Oh, and I couldn't resist adding a 20s Klaroline dance. Sue me. **_

* * *

><p><strong>1923 A.D - Part 4<strong>

* * *

><p>The decision to leave had been quick and painless. Almost like a thousand-year-old weight had been lifted off of Caroline's shoulders. The process of planning that escape? Now that was far more difficult.<p>

Caroline had spent time away from her husband before. Decades even. The idea of spending every single moment of their combined eighteen centuries together would have driven anyone crazy, and as the phrase went, _absence makes the heart grow fonder_. She'd struck out on her own, gallivanted with Kol, and even danced her way through the continent with Rebekah a time or two. But the main difference between then and now was that she'd always left Niklaus on good terms. Kept in touch. Reminded her husband that she was coming back to him.

This departure would be different.

Leaving Klaus now, when he was on his way to becoming a soulless monster, during one of the roughest periods of their relationship to date (not to mention the fact that she would be running away with another man), well... it would be dicey. He might have been viciously angry with her, but that didn't mean he wasn't still possessive as hell. He wouldn't let her go without a fight, and a fight was exactly what Caroline was trying to avoid.

"Why can't we just leave now?" Enzo asked impatiently. "We'll pack up the bags, buy a couple of train tickets, and hit the road before the sun even rises. What's so hard about that?"

Caroline groaned, "Train tickets that will lead right back to us and our destination, in a busy station where anyone could remember our faces?"

"Fine then we'll drive ourselves."

"In a car that Klaus could have every police officer in the city track down in heartbeat?"

"Dammit, Caroline!" Enzo yelled, frustrated with her. "I'm beginning to think you don't really want to leave at all."

They'd been up all night like this. Enzo shooting ideas at her, and Caroline shooting each and every one down. He didn't understand that leaving wasn't so simple as just picking up and running like hell. Any option that allowed Klaus to track them had to be discarded because her husband could and would find them if they left him even the slightest hint of a trail to follow. They had to think outside the box if they were going to get even a mile outside of Chicago without a murderous hybrid tearing after them. Unfortunately for Caroline, Enzo saw her caution as hesitation, and he had started to lose faith that she really wanted to do this.

She pursed her lips together and tried to explain. "Of course I want to leave, you know I do. But Nik has hunted down vampires for far less with far more ease. Running from him isn't a joke, it's a serious move that takes a level head and more than a little bit of luck," Caroline grabbed hold of his hand and squeezed, trying to make him understand. "If we up and left tonight, he'd track me down and murder you in an instant. We need a plan, and it needs to be flawless."

"Fine," Enzo agreed, though he kept his stubborn expression fixed on his face. "You wouldn't happen to know any experts in evading psychotic Originals would you?"

Caroline chuckled under her breath, "Where's Katerina Petrova when you need her?"

"Who?"

"Never mind," she waved him off. A story for another day. After all their hours of brainstorming, she'd finally managed to settle on a good idea. "Here's what we're going to do. You look in the papers for any recently sold homes in the greater Chicago area. Track down the seller and find one them - any of them - that are moving out of the city. They'll be our ticket out of town. No paper trail, no incident report, just a couple of hitchhikers grabbing a ride with a friend already scheduled to leave."

"Brilliant," Enzo smiled at her brightly. Finally he was getting excited about the planning process.

Caroline was less enthusiastic. "I'll be stopping by Gloria's to get a little magical assistance. We can't have Klaus enlisting any witches to perform a locator spell. Then I'll need to have a little chat with Stefan."

"Stefan?" Enzo looked confused. "What's he got to do with it?"

"He's a loose end, and I like mine tied up," Caroline stood up and starting collecting things off of her vanity. "Start packing, but only the essentials. Just enough that if someone were to pop in and look around, they wouldn't think anything was missing. A spare shirt, any keepsakes, _no_ identification. Anything tied to your life in Chicago stays. No exceptions."

Enzo pulled her out of her moment of concentration to wrap his arms around her from behind. "I like you bossy."

"Good because that's what I'm going to be until we're a million miles away from this place," she answered distractedly.

"We're really doing this?" Enzo asked breathlessly, and he could not have sounded happier.

"We are," Caroline tried her best to smile. She was happy to leave with Enzo, truly she was. But a bigger part of her was afraid. What would Klaus do when he heard she'd fled? What would it do to him? All thoughts for another day, when they'd actually pulled this off. She focused back on Enzo. "Get going, we're going to need that ride as soon possible."

Enzo dropped a kiss on her cheek, but she pulled him in for a more heated one. He responded in kind, pulling her close and sinking a hand into her hair. For some reason it felt more like a goodbye than a 'see you later'. She let it go on for a moment before pushing him away with one last peck.

"Off you go," she grinned.

"Madam," Enzo bowed at the waist and then tore off out the front door.

Once he was gone, Caroline bent down to retrieve the box she kept hidden under her bed. Inside were various spells, talismans, and enchantments that she'd stored away for a rainy day. The small green amulet she had in mind would be the perfect bribe to get Gloria to perform a spell to hide them that would no doubt enrage Klaus. Even with the threat of death hanging over her, a cursed object as strong as this one would be worth the risk to Gloria.

She dug through the other items in the box - a few letters and trinkets she'd kept over the years - all the way to the bottom where her two most precious items lived. The drawing that Niklaus had first done of her had faded away to nothing. You could barely even see the scratchings of her figure anymore, but still, she kept that torn and faded piece of parchment with her. The second item had survived the years better. A small wooden carving that vaguely resembled a horse. Niklaus' gift to her on her seventeenth name day. There was a innocence left in these gifts, something that Caroline clung to always. She wrapped them both up in a spare handkerchief, and tucked them away in the small suitcase she intended to carry with her.

She considered for a moment leaving them behind. A true clean slate, free of her memories and burdens. It would certainly be cathartic, leaving every last detail and memento of her old life behind. But as a vampire, Caroline knew the weight of regret too well. There were certain choices you could never take back, and leaving these precious keepsakes behind would be one of them. In twenty years or twenty decades, she would wish she'd held onto them. So in the bag they stayed. Tucked away like every other secret she carried with her.

She didn't even spare a single glance over her shoulder, walking out of that apartment. 'Never look back' was her new mantra, and it echoed in her head as she walked away from her life as an Original.

* * *

><p>Rebekah knew there was something off with Caroline the moment she saw her sneak through the back door.<p>

For all that Rebekah was a hopeless attention hog, Caroline was nearly as bad. Every night around ten o'clock, Caroline would swan into the club with Enzo on her arm like she owned the place. Bold. Beautiful. Poised. She never minded the stares or the leers because it meant that she was getting the respect she was owed. And the validation she needed. Caroline could be a terribly insecure little thing when the situation provided.

So watching her skulk along the edges of the bar and into the shadows, trying to keep her presence hidden and her face turned down? It was a clear sign that she was up to something.

Looking to her left, she watched Stefan and Nik entertain a group of young professionals with whatever jokes and conversation men talked about these days. Stocks, cars, boats, banking, what have you. It was of no interest to her.

"Stefan," she called out to her lover. "Come dance with me?"

He looked over at her call, but held up a hand telling her to wait. Nik raised an eyebrow in victory, almost as if to taunt her . '_Stefan likes me more.'_

Rebekah huffed and turned her nose up at him. Fine. Look who wasn't going to find out that Caroline had walked in right under his nose.

Her hurt feelings didn't stop her from chasing after her sister though. If her direction had been any indication, Caroline had been heading into the offices behind the stage, where Gloria kept inventory and other business related things. Either Caroline was in need of three cases of gin… or she was looking for Gloria and didn't want anyone to know it. Interesting.

She barely got one foot in the door of Gloria's office before there was a hand around her neck and a flash of blonde hair in her face. Caroline's eyes bled red, and her grip squeezed like a vice around Rebekah's throat as a clear threat.

"Was _that_ really necessary?" Rebekah droned, not even bothering to raise a hand to defend herself.

Caroline's face slowly returned to normal, and she let her sister go. "I thought you were Nik."

"Are things so bad between you that it's come to violence?" Rebekah laughed. "This lover's quarrel is really beginning to wear on my nerves. Can't you two just kiss and make up already?"

Her sister ignored her. "You can come out Gloria."

Their resident witch emerged from the nearest closet, dusting her dress off like she'd gotten it dirty. There was not a speck on the thing, it was merely a show of inconvenience, which meant that her hackles had already been raised. Caroline had managed to rile the woman up in the two minutes she'd been alone with her. A mighty feat indeed.

"And you can leave," Gloria ordered Caroline in a sharp and irritated voice. "I'm not doing that spell, no matter how much you beg. It would be my death sentence and we both know it."

"Oh, come on, Gloria," Caroline cajoled. "We both know you can take him."

Gloria scoffed. "We most certainly do not know that, and I'm not willing to bet my life to find out."

Rebekah's curiosity was officially piqued. This had to do with Nik, obviously. It always did with Caroline. Deciding to listen in a little longer, Rebekah stayed leaned up against the wall and waited to see how this played out. Caroline ignored her, reaching into her bag and pulling out a bright green gem stone that Rebekah hadn't seen in years.

"What if I offered you this?" Caroline held the emerald out to Gloria.

For all her huffing and puffing, Gloria seemed to change her tone very quickly when she caught sight of the large stone. She reached a hand out to touch it, and an eerie wind swept through the closed off room at her contact. Magic had a way of being intriguing and terrifying at the same time.

"Where did you get this?" Gloria never took her eyes off of the amulet in Caroline's hand.

"The better question is where is it going?" Caroline responded. "Perform one harmless little spell for me, and it's yours Gloria. It's worth thousands on its own, and even more within the witch community because of its dark magic. And it's all yours if you want it."

Rebekah blustered at the offer. "You can't be serious Caroline. You've held onto that thing for centuries, and you're going to trade it away for a pathetic little spell?"

Caroline ignored her, keeping the focus on Gloria. "Do we have a deal?"

"Caroline-"

She held up a hand at Rebekah's outrage, cutting her off short. There was no reasoning with her when she was like this, so Rebekah chose to pout instead.

"Fine," Gloria snatched the amulet up for herself, wrapping it in a handkerchief and stuffing it into the bodice of her dress. "When Klaus comes after me to lift the spell and find out where you've gone-"

"You'll have more than enough power to hold him off," Caroline interrupted. "Especially if you channel that thing."

Rebekah's eyebrows drew together as the pieces finally started falling into place. It sounded like... Caroline was leaving. She was packing up and running off in the dead of night, making sure that no one could find her with any magic or spell. In a brief moment of panic, Rebekah considered flashing out to her brother's side and warning him. She didn't want to lose Caroline, and Nik could make her stay. He could do that. Worse, losing Caroline would surely make her lose what little was left of her Niklaus. He was teetering on a razor's edge already, and one more blow could tip him over.

She had barely made one step towards the door before Caroline was in front of her, one hand slapped on the wooden door frame and the other held out in front of Rebekah's chest. "Don't, Bekah."

"Why not?" she asked angrily. "You're leaving me. You're leaving Nik. And what for? Some fool with a charming grin and a startlingly amount of naivete? I know you started this whole affair to spark some reaction in Nik, but this is going too far, Caroline. You'll break him."

Caroline took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. "Maybe I did take up with Enzo to try to shock Nik into feeling something. Maybe... well whatever it was, it was wrong, and it was a mistake, I know that. But that's not what this is about anymore Bekah," her voice cracked and Rebekah could see she was trying hard to keep from crying. "He's already broken. I know you don't like to see it, but it's true. For the first time in years, I see a chance to be happy. To be free. And I have to take that. I have to _try_."

"You..." Rebekah swallowed sharply, the words lodging uncomfortably in her throat. "You want to be free of us? For good?"

"Bekah," Caroline took her hand and pulled her in close, "You know there's no such thing as 'for good' with people like us. There's only for now. And right now, I need time. I need space. Can you understand?"

She could understand. Of course she could. Dozens of times over the centuries, Rebekah had lost faith in Niklaus and his love for her. And every time, Caroline and pulled her back in, promising that her brother was still in there somewhere. Caroline never gave up on Nik. Not in 900 years. And now... now Caroline needed her time. She needed to grieve and recover and sort this mess out on her own. No matter how much Rebekah loathed the idea of being parted from her only friend, she could let Caroline have this one thing. For a while.

"He'll hunt you down, you know he will." Rebekah warned her.

"I know," Caroline sighed with relief at her small acquiescence. "That's what Gloria's spell is for. Any witch he enlists to find me with have a hard time getting around that kind of barrier. This will work at least long enough to give me time to find something better."

Behind them, Gloria sniffed, as if anything could be better than one of her spells. She would keep her end of the bargain though, and she started pulling ingredients and bowls out of her cabinets, setting to work creating the spell that would hide Caroline and Enzo from Klaus' prying eyes. Candles were lit and herbs were mixed, and Rebekah let it all happen. She stood by, Caroline's hand grasped in her own.

"Looks like you have it all figured out," Rebekah whispered sadly.

"Not all..." her sister trailed off, suddenly a bit unsure of herself.

Rebekah knew that tone. Caroline wanted something. "You can't possibly ask me for more than my silence, Caroline. I can't. I won't."

"I just need you to get Stefan back here for a moment. Less than minute, and I'll be done."

"You _will not _kill him Caroline," Rebekah nearly screamed in outrage. "I don't care what kind of pissing match you're in with Nik, I won't let you-"

"Easy, easy!" Caroline tried to calm her down. "I don't want to kill him, I just need to compel him. You and I both know that memories of an Original are dangerous. If he never remembers meeting me, then he won't have anything to say that could hurt us. You and Klaus will likely do the same thing when you eventually leave him in the dust."

Rebekah huffed at the suggestion that she would one day throw Stefan away like a used rag doll. They were in love, and that's how they would stay. But she could see the logic in Caroline's plan. Erasing Stefan's memories of her was for his own safety. "You promise you'll only compel him?"

"Promise," Caroline swore.

"Wait here."

Rebekah tore off into the dance hall again, grabbing two shots of liquor from the nearest tray and taking them one after another. Caroline was trusting her not to go to Nik, and she'd need more than a little liquid courage to live up to that faith. Spotting Stefan still with his boys group, she sauntered over, confident as always, and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. He smiled down at her, surprised by her sudden show of affection, but not put off by it.

"Stefan," she put on her best pout, making a show of being upset at his neglect earlier, "The back of my dress is caught on my stockings, and I can't seem to reach it on my own. Would you be a dear and help me?"

Heat seeped into his eyes are her suggestion, and there was a round of knowing snickers from the boys around them. Thank God the two of them had been blatantly promiscuous before, and this wasn't seen as anything out of the ordinary. Stefan took one more look at the men surrounding him, especially Klaus who just rolled his eyes and waved them off. Grinning like an idiot, Stefan grabbed her hand and led her towards one of the curtained off rooms.

"Not tonight," she corrected him, tugging them towards the back room where Caroline was waiting. "I'm a lady, Stefan, I want privacy."

He laughed at her 'lady' comment, but followed her closely anyways, pressing kisses up and down her neck all the while. A gnawing guilt crept into Rebekah's stomach, knowing that she was leading her lover into a trap. She had to keep reminding herself that he wasn't in any danger. Caroline would keep her word. When they finally stepped through the door to Gloria's office, Stefan realized the jig was up quick enough as Caroline stepped out of the shadows and slammed the door behind him threateningly.

"What's um... what's new, Caroline?" he asked nervously.

Rebekah stepped in front of Stefan protectively. "You promised," she reminded her sister.

"And I keep my promises," Caroline reassured her. "Now Stefan... let's have a chat, hmm?"

* * *

><p>Klaus watched Stefan and Rebekah go with a small shake of his head. Those two were about as subtle as cannon fire.<p>

He'd just begun picking out his next snack - and he would be careful to keep it to a snack, not a full meal - when he saw Rebekah hurrying Stefan towards the door. That had been a rather... fast interlude. It wasn't an unusual occurrence, the two of them sneaking off on their own and leaving Klaus to do as he pleased. Lovers were wont to escape to quiet corners for this and that. What he did notice as unusual was the utterly confounded look on Stefan's face. He didn't seem upset or troubled necessarily, but he was certainly confused. Rebekah steered him away and outside, and that was the last he saw of them. Odd.

If Klaus hadn't turned his head at exactly the right moment after that, his entire night would have turned out differently.

But he did turn his head. And he did catch sight of Caroline's blonde curls peeking out of the back offices before ducking back inside.

Again, the sight in itself wasn't unsettling, and normally he would have just rolled his eyes and continued on. But that odd scene with Rebekah and Stefan - coming from those same offices... and then the kicker; Klaus searched the club quickly and took stock of everything he saw. And the one thing he _didn't _see. Gloria.

Caroline was holing up in private with a witch, his sister, and a very confused best mate. Never a good combination.

Klaus reached into his coat pocket and let his hand glide over the dagger that he'd pulled out of Kol only an hour ago. There was no such thing being as too cautious, and if Kol decided to come straight for him, he would be prepared. It was convenient to have a weapon on hand that showed his superiority. But this strange behavior reeked of something else entirely. Kol wouldn't wake for at least another hour anyways, so Caroline's little secret had to be unrelated.

When his wife came out of the back room, head down and eyes shifty, he decided to put whatever this little rebellion was to rest. Her plotting was a variable in his plan that he just couldn't tolerate tonight. She'd nearly made it to the door before he caught up with her.

"Hello, Caroline," Klaus stepped into her path, surprising his wife.

"Niklaus," she looked quickly over her shoulder. Waiting for someone? "I didn't expect you to be leaving so early."

"I didn't expect you to arrive so late," he answered back, "And so... under-dressed."

It was true, now that he got an up close look at her. The coat she was wearing was a travel coat. One for trains and dusty roads. Her dress underneath was elegant, to be sure, black satin covered in various bits of sequin and lace, and it had blended in at Gloria's club well enough. But Caroline didn't like to blend, she enjoyed standing out. Her dress screamed subtlety and simplicity, two things that rarely existed in Caroline's veritable treasure trove of a closet.

His wife pulled her coat tighter around her. "I wasn't planning on staying long. I was hoping avoid you entirely, actually."

"Oh, come on love," he pushed in close, "We had a little spat. I'm over it already."

"Well I'm not," Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, a teasing sort bitterness in her voice.

Klaus tried to hold back a knowing smirk. "And that little tête-à-tête you were having with Gloria in the back? Do I even want to ask what that was about, or am I better off waiting to _be un_pleasantly surprised?" Klaus watched her eyes widen for a moment before a tight grin covered up whatever emotion it was that she had just choked down.

"You've always loved a good surprise, Nik," she continued to smile with just a hint of an edge to it.

He narrowed his eyes at her fake cheerfulness. "You're in a good mood," he noted, trying to keep the suspicion out of his voice. It wouldn't do to tip her off.

Caroline shifted a little nervously. "Am I? Well then, let's keep it that way."

She made a move to skirt around him and leave, but he held a hand out to stop her. Caroline would not meet his eye though, her gaze resting firmly over his left shoulder somewhere.

"I'd rather take advantage of it," Klaus offered a hand out to her, wondering if she'd call his bluff. "Dance with me?"

"I..." Caroline looked at his hand anxiously but made no move to take it.

"Come on," he prompted her, "One dance? I won't bite."

She chewed on her lip and spared one last look to the alley outside. Normally, Caroline would brush him and and storm out of here all in a huff. It would have infuriated him, but his wife didn't seem to care one way or another about his mood these days. He waited for her tantrum, but surprisingly, she slid her coat slowly off her shoulders and tossed it on the nearest rack. He tried not to let his eyes linger on the curve of her shoulders, or the bare skin of her neck. After a deep breath, she placed her dainty hand in his and allowed him to lead her out onto the dance floor.

Klaus felt the shallow shades of emotion battling to come to the surface, but he beat them back, as always. He could still recognize them for what they were though. Hope was the predominant one. Hope that Caroline was finally coming round. Perhaps she'd seen something in him last night. Through his anger and pain, perhaps she saw a spark of the man she'd once known. The other emotion was gnawing sense of doubt. Why was she acting this way? What trap was she setting that made her abandon her disgust and allow him to hold her in his arms this way?

"I don't know what you're planning," Klaus breathed into her ear as they swayed slowly to the music, "But surely you don't need me to warn you against doing anything... rash."

Caroline scoffed, and Klaus noticed how stiff she'd been since the moment she took his hand. "Funny, that sounded an awful lot like a warning to me."

"I'm only looking out for the family's best interest, Caroline. Isn't that what you accused me of losing sight of only last night?"

"Are we talking about last night then?" she asked, letting him hear the sarcasm in her voice. "I'd assumed we were going to ignore it, just like everything else."

Klaus let out a deep sigh of frustration. "Caroline..."

The band played on, and a woman with a deep and sultry voice sang her slow song. In any other time, in any other place, Klaus thought this would have been incredibly romantic. He would have dipped his wife, placed a scorching kiss on her lips, and watched in satisfaction as she grinned back up at him. Instead, they were dancing like strangers in one another's arms, and he was sure if his lips came anywhere near Caroline's, he would get a sharp slap across the face and harsh word. Really, her games were old and predictable by now. And he was tired of playing. All he wanted was his wife back.

"You're right," she gave in, too quickly in his opinion, and then allowed him to spin her around once more. "I think I'll leave the rash decisions to you, Nik. You always did excel at acting without thinking."

"Oh, I don't know," he laughed softly, "I remember someone climbing thirty feet up a tree and nearly falling to her death. I'm not so sure a lot of thought went into that decision."

Caroline let out a genuine laugh, and Klaus felt himself smiling along. "You're the one who threw the shoe at me," she accused, still laughing a little.

"True," he acquiesced, "But if it makes you feel any better, I was aiming for Bekah."

They both couldn't help the chuckles that bubbled out of them at the memory. Rebekah teasing him from atop the branches, and Caroline's attempt to play dead afterwards that had nearly given him a heart attack. They had all just been children then. Unaware of the great destiny that awaited them. And the great heartbreak.

Klaus was still shaking softly with laughter when he realized that Caroline had stopped dancing. When he turned his face down towards her in question, he caught her looking up with him with a truly unreadable expression. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Like she was battling back happiness and hope, for fear of having it beaten out of her. He realized that this was the first civil conversation they'd had since Marcellus' death. Carefree and friendly, bordering on loving. Her look of wonder was for him.

Recognition sparked in her eyes and beneath that, the smallest bit of hope. "Nik?"

The smile dropped from his lips immediately, and he turned his gaze away. The utter joy in her voice was too much to handle all at once. His rejection led surely to hers, and Caroline closed herself off immediately, turning away and trying to pull herself out of his arms.

"Caroline," he pulled her back, one hand going to her cheek and the other to her waist. "I..."

This was it. This was his opportunity to turn the tide. Last night had been awful, but it had opened a door. If he could let himself feel something, anything for the first time in years, then maybe he could build his relationship with Caroline back from the ground up with that single emotion. He just had to say something.

But the words choked in his throat and the door stayed shut.

"I can't," he whispered hopelessly. "I'm sorry."

She fled so quickly he would have missed it if his eyes had not been trained on her. Through the crowds and out the door, Caroline didn't even bother to take her coat with her. She'd freeze if she weren't a vampire. Klaus considered going back to the booze and the boys in the back. Sooner or later, Kol would show up and find him, and then the plan could go on as expected. Fire with fire.

But the part of him that desperately wanted, _needed_ Caroline back could not sit still.

In a flash he was out the door and after her.

The alley behind Gloria's was smokey and damp, and it created the perfect atmosphere for the confrontation that had been building for weeks. Years even. To his left was pitch black emptiness, but to his right was the light of the city. That was where Caroline had headed. He listened in, and the tap of her heels was only one alleyway over. He chased after her, determined to put an end to this silly quarrel of theirs.

"Caroline!" he called out and watched her whip around with a jolt. Her face was not filled with shock or annoyance or anything else he expected though. It was something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

He took a worried step towards her and watched in surprise at she jumped back from him. Almost like she was... afraid.

But that couldn't be right. 900 years of marriage and Caroline had never been afraid of him. Not once. No matter what atrocities he'd committed or what quarrels they endured, Caroline's refusal to ever fear Klaus was one of the things he loved most about her. Her love for him always outweighed whatever nastiness came between them. He took another step and he noticed her hands start to shake slightly. Klaus felt a sharp pang hit his heart, and he realized that her fear hurt him. He was hurt enough to have allowed a small bit of that elusive humanity of his back to the surface to feel the pain.

"Caroline," he stepped forward with his hands up, a clear sign that he would not hurt her. "What's wrong, love? I know we had a tiff last night, but that can't have caused you to be so jumpy. Tell me what's going on."

She hesitated, looking again over her shoulder like she was expecting someone to come barreling out of the shadows to save her. "I'm fine, Nik," she reassured him. "Just a little out of sorts tonight."

Klaus watched her throat bob up and down as she swallowed sharply. Piece by piece, bits of feeling and emotion were seeping through his carefully constructed barrier, and he had to force them back lest they crest over him in waves. Caroline had cried and raged and emptied herself out to him after Marcel's death, and he had been able to brush it all under the rug. But this fear? This silent shaking and tightness of her shoulders as he drew nearer was finally pushing him over the edge.

"You're afraid..." he trailed off, his jaw locking in place. "Of me."

Caroline's eyes darted to the floor and her hands clenched into fists. "Don't be silly."

He could hear her voice waver with the lie. She was terrified and on edge, and there was no hiding it. The pang he'd felt in his heart turned into a hollowness in his stomach, so profound and painful it felt like he was choking on it. Her fear of him had finally made him feel, and he could feel himself losing her.

Perhaps if he could show her that he wasn't quite the monster she was seeing, he could convince that fear to leave her eyes? Just for a moment.

"Caroline," he finally closed the distance between them and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Don't be afraid, sweetheart. I didn't mean what I said last night, you know that. You... you mean the world to me, Caroline, surely you can see that?"

Some scrap of long buried emotion must have slipped into his voice because Caroline relaxed under his hand just the slightest bit. She looked deeply into his eyes then, almost like she was torn between running away and staying. He tried to knock down that wall again. To show her how much he loved her. He could be the bigger person here and forgive the pettiness and the infidelity and all of it, he knew he could. They could reconcile if he could just show her...

"Tell me what you need from me, love," he whispered so as not to spook her. "I'll give you whatever you want, whatever you need."

"I..." Caroline bit her lip in hesitation. She was still unsure of him.

He could feel her giving in though, and that connection that had always held them together was growing stronger by the second. They'd always confided in each other. Every little detail and secret that made them who they were had been shared freely between husband and wife. From whispers in a dark cave of an undiscovered world to confessions in grand European estates. Secrets between them passed as easy as breathing. And now he just needed one more from her. If she would tell him what this was all about, then it would be a sign that she was willing to forgive. And maybe to apologize for her own misdeeds too. A sign that they could begin to repair the damage. But she needed to meet him half way.

Taking a chance, Klaus leaned down and placed the gentlest of kisses on the top of her cheek. She sucked in a breath at the contact, but not a frightened one. They were both so unused to this kind of affection between them lately. When Caroline didn't pull away, he brushed his lips against her cheek again. "What can I do, Caroline?" he whispered against her skin.

"I... I need to go away for a while," Caroline gasped out the words. His brows knitted together, but he stayed where he was, waiting to hear more. "You can give me your blessing, Niklaus. That's what you can do."

"You want to leave?" he asked hesitantly. That was the last thing he wanted. He needed her here, with him, with their family. But maybe... maybe Caroline was right. She could leave this place. Leave behind the slaughter and the fighting and the resentment. Leave Rebekah, Stefan, Enzo, and... him. Get away from it all for a while. And when she returned, they could start over. They'd done it before, they'd do it again. "I supposed..." he swallowed hard before trying again, "I suppose I can bear to part with you for a short while. If that's what you truly think you need."

Caroline sagged in his arms, and a great smile lit up her face. She was smiling at him truly and openly, and he found himself softening to the idea more and more. This was what Caroline needed. Time on her own, to recover and grow. She'd never liked solitude much anyway, and soon she would be back. This was a first step in the right direction. This was good.

Dainty arms came up to circle his shoulders, and for the first time in years, he felt his wife hugging him. "Oh, thank you, Nik!" she sighed in his arms. "This will be good for both of us, you'll see. A break to get our heads on straight. And you don't have to worry about Stefan, I already compelled him to forget me and Enzo. He won't be able to put anyone in danger if he runs into the wrong people."

Klaus froze and pulled back from her a bit. "Enzo? Why have you compelled him to forget Enzo?"

"Well," Caroline spoke very slowly, noticing how tense he'd gotten, "Because Enzo... will be coming with me?"

Realization snapped in his mind like a taught string, and that wall of emotion he was barely keeping in check burst forward in one mighty wave. Everything he'd been suppressing and forcing back for years came pouring out of him, and - as always - rage was at the forefront. The trigger. Unbelievable, mind consuming, bone crushing rage surged through him. She was leaving. With Enzo. That uppity English prat, who wasn't worthy to shine an Original's shoes was taking his wife and fleeing the city. Caroline had been planning on sneaking off before she'd asked for his blessing, that much was clear. She hadn't been frightened of _him. _She'd been frightened of him discovering her little escape. Discovering that she was running off with another man. Leaving him.

Alone. Abomination. Unloved. Disgraced.

These words had defined his entire existence, and now even Caroline had proved them to be true.

His heavy breathing - trying to calm himself down and failing - tipped his wife off to his current emotional state. She tried backing away from him, but he held her shoulders fast, keeping her close.

"You will_ not_," he hissed darkly, "Leave with that filthy little ingrate. I will not allow it!"

Caroline frowned, a mix between offended and disappointed. "You were willing to let me go not two seconds ago-"

"When I thought you were leaving _for you_!" he shouted at her. "Not for him! He asked you to run away with him, and you said yes! Admit it!"

"Fine!" she screamed right back. "He asked me, and I said yes. Because I can't stand to sit here one more minute and watch you tear us apart!"

"Me?!" Klaus fumed at her. How dare she. "I'm the one tearing us apart? You're _fucking _another man, sweetheart. If anyone's ruined us, it's you, not me!"

Klaus couldn't resist shaking her roughly at those last words. As if he could shake the sense right back into her. He had set her on this path, he knew that. Pushed her away and shut her out when she needed him most. But she was not blameless in this. She'd let herself fall right into the waiting arms of another man, and she'd flaunted that relationship right under his nose for years. He'd let it go on out of some twisted sense of pride, to prove he didn't care, but this was something else entirely. She'd broken what was left of his heart every day that she carried on with Enzo, and he would not take the blame for where they were now.

"You're right," Caroline sniffled and hung her head in shame. She knew it was the truth. She was just as responsible for the state of their relationship as he was. "Maybe I did this to us. And I'll have to live with that. But I'm still leaving. Tonight."

Klaus tried to recover that peaceful benevolence he'd felt only moments ago, when he'd been willing to say goodbye. He found it impossible. The only thing worse than being forced to watch Caroline and Enzo paw at each other every night was sending them off into the world together. Never knowing what they were up to, where they were, and if his wife was falling out of love with him and into it with someone else. It would be murder.

With great force, Caroline wrenched herself out of his grip and started off down the ally. She scurried quickly, but her pride would not let her run from him. That was her downfall. Reaching into his pocket, Klaus pulled out the dagger, already dipped in white ash and ready for wielding. He had ways of keeping her with him. Caroline could not see how wrong this decision was, and how dangerous going off with a stranger could be for her. They barely new Enzo and what his intentions were. He could be leading her into a trap for all she knew. Fingering the knife, Klaus realized he could protect her and keep her for himself with one quick twist. Decision made, his grip around the silver handle tightened.

Klaus flashed towards her and pulled her around to face him, swinging the weapon down with full force. His wife was accustomed to the ways of the daggers though, and she caught his arm just before the silver entered her chest.

"Nik, don't," she gasped, barely able to hold him off.

"Don't make me," he ground the words out through his teeth, pressing back even harder.

Caroline grimaced as he began to win the match, and the tip of dagger pierced her skin. "I will _hate_ you for this. Please, Nik!"

Her begging did nothing for him and he pushed harder still. He could see the moment the dagger entered her heart. Shock and pain flew across her face, and a deep sadness entered her eyes. It lasted for only a brief moment before they slid shut, and Caroline sunk to the ground in his arms.

Klaus cradled her softly, brushing a quick kiss to her forehead. "It's for the best, gremlin."

All too familiar with what came next, Klaus lifted Caroline's grey body up and laid her on a pair of crates on the side of the alley. A quick scavenge turned up a tarp, which he used to shield her from any prying eyes that would be in and out of this place. All that was left was to go get the truck that housed the rest of his family's coffins and put Caroline into her semi-eternal resting place.

Klaus only hoped Kol hadn't woken yet. He hated to see a good plan go to waste, but it seemed his brother wouldn't be necessary after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Very dramatic, very heartbreaking. <strong>And there's only one chapter left in our 20s section!<strong>  
><strong>

PLEASE REVIEW RESPECTFULLY!

**I decided to flub a little of the mythology in this chapter because the rules on Original compulsion and daggering are getting flimsy at best. Elijah's compulsion broke on Katherine when she was in the tomb, but somehow a daggered Elijah was able to reach out to Rebekah's mind with compulsion in The Originals? Yeah, that mythology is totally screwed, so I'm just taking it on as my own. Caroline's compulsion on Stefan's memories hold while she's daggered, which is why Stefan won't recognize her in Mystic Falls. My take on it is the compulsion holds until the Original who put it in place removes it. If the writers can screw mythology then so can I :)**

**We'll see how Enzo reacts to all of this next chapter. **


	14. 1923 AD - Part 5

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything related to TO or TVD belongs to the CW

_**A/N: Lots of you have been begging for more current day Mystic Falls, so I slipped in the next little scene of that time period to the beginning of this chapter. I figured since Caroline had just been daggered, it would be nice to see a snippet of their first interaction after she was undaggered all those years later. If you're lost, just go back and read the beginning of chapter 4 to find out what's going on. **_

_**Thank you for all of your kind reviews on last chapter! And thanks to all of you who understand the complexities that I'm trying to incorporate into this story.** _

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><p><strong>2011 A.D - Part 2<strong>

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><p>If the Mystic Falls mansion had been any less spacious, the walls might have exploded with all of the unspoken accusations that were just waiting to fly. Finn nursed his drink by the fire, Kol picked through the food on the table, and Elijah played guard dog by the door, ensuring none of them bolted. It had been known to happen after a dagger was removed. Rebekah walked the perimeter of the room, looking like she was silently stalking them all. Or maybe she was just looking for a way out.<p>

Caroline chose to sit with Finn by the fire. She steadfastly avoided Klaus' eye, choosing instead to suck down whatever vile alcohol passed for liquor these days.

She wondered if it was still illegal?

Ninety years. It was the longest she had ever been down before. Sure, she might have held the record for most _often_ daggered Original, but Klaus never left her that way for long. He could not stand to be without her any more than Caroline could bear to be away from him. After a few years, sometimes a decade, he lost the battle with his heart and woke her up. Klaus' fatal flaw was his fear of loneliness after all.

Perhaps that was why this latest nap had lasted so long.

She _had_ been trying to leave him.

Everything had been laid out so carefully too. Her sentimentality had ruined it all. To part on good terms was all she had wanted. A goodbye and well wishing. For her honesty, she had received a dagger in the heart.

"What the devil are you wearing Bekah?" Caroline somehow managed to focus on the here and now. It was always so disorienting, waking up in a new time. You were somehow caught in the past, and yet stuck in the present all together. "Did I miss something? Have you become a lady of the night while I was away?"

"Away," Kol snorted, "Like it was some sort of trip? You always had the most _delicate_ way of putting things, Caroline. Heaven forbid you hold Nik accountable for his actions for once."

Caroline only rolled her eyes, "Stick a sock in it, Kol," she snapped and delighted in the way his face twisted in confusion at the strange vernacular. She might have been ninety years behind the times, but that meant he was over a hundred. Small victories.

"This is how women dress today, Caroline," Rebekah pulled self-consciously at the small bits of red cloth covering her breasts.

"Like harlots?"

Rebekah gasped in outrage, and Caroline couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face. A thousand years later, and riling up Rebekah was still one of her favorite ways to pass the time.

Before the bickering could escalate, Elijah stepped in. "Ladies. Let's focus on the matter at hand, shall we?"

"Yes, let's," Kol turned to face his eldest brother. "Why have you arranged this lovely little reunion, Elijah? I know it can't be because you missed me so dearly. After all, it was you who held me down as Klaus drove the dagger through my heart."

"You were out of control, as always," Klaus finally spoke up, "Someone had to do it."

That made Caroline laugh. "As if you have room to lecture him on control, when you've never exercised any a day in your life-"

"Enough!" Elijah's shout managed to silence them all.

The quiet was deafening. There they all sat, the world's only truly immortal beings, gathered together for the first time in nine hundred years. Klaus raked his gaze over all of them, seeing varying degrees of hatred, confusion, regret, and betrayal on their faces. As if the weight of the world had suddenly crashed down upon him, Klaus stumbled back to sit on the edge of the elegant dining table. Caroline nearly went to him. After all this time, even with the pain of the dagger still twinging in her chest, she could not bear to see him so torn down. She'd loved and hated her husband many, many times over through the centuries, but she had never forgotten her promise. To protect him always.

Feeling her eyes on him, Klaus lifted his gaze to hers, and she was struck by what she saw there. Gone was the drunken, grieving, murderous man she had been accustomed to in the 20s. Logically she knew that decades had passed, but to her it felt like she was seeing a different person between one hour and the next. Her Nik had faded away to barely a shadow of himself, replaced by this cold and calculating man that she was not sure she even wanted to know. Where before there had been playfulness - bordering on recklessness - to his every shift and smirk, now there was a much more menacing attitude about him. Worse, she sensed a strange sort of hopelessness in the set of his shoulders and the tilt of his chin. He had truly suffered all those years without his family, she was sure of it.

"My god, Nik," she barely breathed the words, "What happened to you?"

Predictably, her study of him and their subsequent staring match had not gone unnoticed by their siblings. Kol was content to lean back and take in the awkward tension, but the others were less inclined to intrude on their private moment. Family drama could wait apparently.

Elijah was the one to offer up a solution. "Rebekah, let's see if we can't find a few blood bags for our brothers while Niklaus and Caroline speak privately, shall we?"

"Fine," Rebekah sighed, but led the way.

Caroline distantly heard Finn asking how in the world they managed to keep blood in bags.

She spent a moment sitting in silence, waiting for her husband to start talking. When he never did, she realized that perhaps such an extended period locked away had been just as hard for him as it had for her. He was guarded, extremely so. All the bickering and bloodshed between them in years past had never resulted in such a divide between them. It was nearly palpable, this wall that he'd constructed to keep everyone and everything out.

"You're so different," she finally whispered.

"You're exactly the same," Klaus replied, his small smile never even coming close to reaching his eyes.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Well obviously."

Her joke didn't make him laugh, and she felt a bit aggravated that it was even falling to her to ease the tension between him. He'd daggered her, not the other way around. Caroline left her perch by the fire, and slowly leaned against the table next to him, gently pressing her shoulder into his. He looked over at her, surprised, but eventually his gaze returned to the floor.

"Can I assume that Enzo received a stake to the heart the second I was put down?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

Perhaps it was unwise to lead with such a contentious question, but there was typically no better way to evaluate Klaus' mental state than to dive in head first. And she truly was curious what had befallen her friend and lover. He'd been a good man. A good man, who would probably barely remember her at this point if he was even still alive.

Her husband only snorted though, halfway between amused and irritated. "Sadly no," he picked a knife up off the table and twirled it around rather than look at her directly. "I decided to spare him out of some… misplaced regard for your feelings. It turned out to be one of my more foolish mistakes."

"Why? What did he do?" Caroline questioned nervously.

"Something unforgivable," Klaus kept his answer vague. Maybe to shield her from the truth, or maybe to shield himself. He was too hard to read.

She took a deep breath, regardless. "So… he's still alive?"

"No," Klaus answered, but without much emotion behind the refusal. He could have been talking about the weather. "It took me a while to track him down, but I made sure he ended up in the right hands to pay for his crimes. Last I heard, he died in a fire some fifty years ago."

Caroline's eyes slid shut. Grief crashed into her like a wave. When would she stop losing people? "I should hate you," she wiped a stray tear away.

"You said you would," he nodded. He actually managed to seem indifferent to the idea. As if her hatred would just be par for the course.

He kept twirling that knife, refusing to meet her gaze or even acknowledge her presence. This entire conversation had been her pulling words out of him. How was that fair? Finally snapping, Caroline snatched the cutlery out of his hand in the blink of an eye and tossed it away from them. It clattered loudly as it skidded across the wood floor, but she never took her eyes off her husband.

"What is wrong with you?" she seethed. "You should be begging for forgiveness or screaming or crying or something! But you're just sitting there like a pouty child. Like you're just _empty_. Do something!"

When he didn't respond in any way, she figured if her words couldn't incite him to action, then perhaps a little physical motivation would. Grabbing a plate off the table - and absentmindedly noticing it was the china she had acquired in New Orleans some hundred years ago - she swung her arm hard and cracked the thing against the back of his head. The plate shattered, and the cracked pieces skittered off his shoulders and down onto the floor.

In a heartbeat, Klaus was up and staring her down, violence and anger in his eyes. And that was not all that was there. Staring back at her were eyes that she had not seen in nearly a thousand years.

Yellow.

Behind the pulsing veins and the red eyes, there was a glowing ring of yellow around his nearly black pupils. A low growl tore out of his throat to match those wolfish eyes, and Caroline could only stare in shock.

"Oh my god…"

"Trust me, sweetheart," Klaus' voice rumbled deep in his chest, and those eyes stayed trained on her. "I'm far from empty."

* * *

><p><strong>1923 A.D - Part 5<strong>

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><p>Rebekah tried to enjoy the rest of her night, hopping from one gin joint to another, but it was hopeless. Stefan was dazed and confused, and she was endlessly on edge. What if Klaus found out about the part she had played? What if he found Caroline before she made it out of the city? What if he thought Stefan had been compliant in all of this? He'd gut the poor man before he could even start thinking of an apology. She'd watch another of her lovers die right before her eyes.<p>

Which was why when Stefan was adamant they return to Gloria's, Rebekah fought him. Hard.

"I'm tired, Stefan," she whined, hoping to get him to back off of the idea. "Can't we just grab a bite off the streets on the way home."

"I'm not looking for a bite, doll," Stefan grinned and continued to drag her down the streets relentlessly. Rebekah noticed with a little bit of horror that they were only a few blocks away by now. "I'm hoping to bump into Nik. I've got something I want to ask him."

Rebekah panicked. "Ask Nik? Why don't you ask me?"

Stefan just laughed and pulled her along. "What's gotten in to you tonight, Bekah?"

What had gotten into her was that Caroline's plan relied on Stefan staying away from Niklaus for as long as possible. If Nik even brought up a small mention of Caroline, Stefan would be clueless, and that would tip Klaus off in a big way. Her sister's plan would be blown to hell. Caroline needed at least a full day to get as far from here as possible if she had any hope of Nik losing her trail in the confusion. Three hours was not nearly enough time.

Even worse, if Klaus was in a mood when he figured it all out - for he'd surely be in one after - then Stefan might lose his head to her brother's fury. Or his intestines.

Before she could stop it, Rebekah found herself tugged through the back alley and into Gloria's speakeasy. The crowds had thinned since they left, a product of partying into the wee hours of the morning, but it was still populated enough to cause a stir.

"Were we here earlier?" Stefan looked around in confusion. Damn him, he was trying to fight through Caroline's compulsion.

Rebekah pulled him around and looked him dead in the eye. "We stopped for drinks and then left. Remember?" she let a bit of her own compulsion remind him of the story.

"Yeah, of course. I remember," he shrugged it off. "Let's find Nik."

They searched through the bar and the dancers, but he was absent from both. Rebekah was just beginning to hope that he'd perhaps called it an early night, when Stefan spotted him in one of the back booths drinking alone. Now all she could do was pray that they would have a relaxed boys night and didn't mention their little feud with Caroline at all. She doubted she'd get that lucky.

"Stefan!" Klaus greeted him jovially as they slid into his booth, but there was a hint of darkness on his face. He was drunk enough to be happy, but there was something else lurking behind that calm facade. Rebekah prayed it was only his usual sinister nature and not something far more catastrophic. "And my sister, how perfectly perfect."

"Did you drink Gloria's whole bar to achieve this level of intoxication, Nik?" Rebekah tried to be coy.

Klaus laughed and slung an arm around her shoulders. "I'm celebrating, little sister. You should join me."

"And what are we toasting to?" Stefan asked, playing alone. None the wiser. "Our good health?"

That caused a raucous round of laughter between the two men. Good health. Vampirism. How terribly funny. Rebekah rolled her eyes. Their joking was cut off by the club door swinging in so forcefully that it was nearly torn off its hinges. The loud slamming caught everyone's attention, but not nearly so much as when Enzo came storming in with a flash of vampire speed up to their table. The few patrons who were not compelled looked on in shock before shuffling quickly towards the door.

That would have to be dealt with.

Klaus smirked and turned towards their new guest, who was hovering over their table. "Enzo. What an... unexpected surprise."

Enzo did not share his good mood. If his angry eyes and stormy expression were any indication, the man was furious. "What have you done with her?"

"You know this guy?" Stefan asked Klaus curiously.

Rebekah's eyes slid shut and her jaw clenched down. There it was. Caroline's carefully laid out escape, dashed to pieces. Though if Enzo were here in such a huff, then it was likely the plan had gone awry already.

Klaus only patted Stefan on the shoulder though. "I wish I didn't.

"Where is she?!" Enzo yelled at him, ignoring his drunken jokes and evasion. "She was supposed to meet me two hours ago, and Caroline is _never_ late, which means you've done something to her. She told me about those daggers, is that it? Have you put her to sleep like some doll you can cart around with you forever? Tell me!"

"Who's this Caroline you're looking for, pal?" Stefan asked with his typically friendly mockery. His smile just shy of sincere and his eyes just shy of murderous. A ripper in every way. He turned towards Klaus and made a circling motion next to his forehead indicating he thought Enzo was crazy. "Maybe we can help you... find her?"

Klaus and Enzo's eyes stayed locked on each other, ignoring Stefan's compelled ignorance. "He's looking for my wife Stefan," he finally revealed. Stefan's shocked face gave it all away, but Rebekah suspected that Klaus knew far more than he was letting on, she could only wonder how much. He didn't leave her in the dark for long. "Oh, don't look so surprised, I've wooed a woman or two in my time."

"Um, congratulations?" Stefan seemed more confused than ever. He shook his head once or twice as if fighting through a headache. Caroline's compulsion hadn't had long to take hold and it was a tricky job, compelling every memory of someone away.

"Don't hurt yourself, mate," Klaus reached over and pulled Stefan close. "Forget this conversation and go wait for me at the bar."

Stefan's eye glazed over and he obeyed, sliding out of his chair and trotting off down the stairs like nothing was wrong. The poor man would barely have an memories left if they kept playing around his head like that. Rebekah couldn't be too put out though, since it appeared Klaus was planning on letting Stefan live, despite Caroline's meddling. If her brother was this informed as to what was going on, then Rebekah knew that Caroline had likely never even made it out of Gloria's earlier. And she knew exactly what that meant for her sister. She was likely laying daggered in a box on the other side of town right now.

Klaus picked up his glass to throw back his drink, and Rebekah noticed the bitterness in his face that she had missed before. Yes, Caroline was going to be gone for quite a while this time. "You're criminally well informed," he spoke to Enzo with menace in his voice.

Before the glass could reach his lips, Enzo knocked the thing out of Klaus' hand, and bourbon went flying everywhere. "Tell me what you done, or I'll tear into you like you wouldn't believe!" Enzo threatened.

"You're welcome to try," Klaus gestured for him to go ahead. "Though I _was _going to let you leave here with your life if you'd agreed to go quietly."

"Why would you do that, _mate_? I'm your competition, remember?"

Klaus scoffed, "Competition, ha! You were a distraction, and you know it."

"And if I decide not to walk away?" Enzo leaned down, his hands gripping the edge of the table hard enough to crack the wood beneath.

Klaus reared forward, on the man in the flash. One hand went firmly around Enzo's throat, and the other sunk into his chest to wrap around the vampire's heart. "Then I tear your insides out while you watch."

Enzo gurgled slightly, choking on his own blood. A few drops fell on the white table cloth, and Rebekah watched on nervously, trying to keep herself in her seat. She had to remember that she was in trouble here too. If Klaus discovered that Caroline had roped her into this mess...

Klaus let it go on for a moment, squeezing just a little tighter to make his point. Eventually, Enzo coughed and began to nod pathetically. "You win, Klaus," he choked out, "You win."

"I always do," he grinned and then ripped his hand out of Enzo's chest, sans heart. "But just so you remember," Klaus made sure to hold Enzo up by the neck as he recovered, looking him in the eye so his compulsion would take effect, "You're going to leave Chicago tonight. Alone. I won't be so kind as to remove all of your memories of Caroline though. No, those will stay and haunt you for the rest of your tiny eternity. You'll never speak her name, or whisper a word about any of us, but you'll remember everything you lost here tonight. Everything that you tried to _steal_."

Klaus watched Enzo grind his teeth in anger as the orders took effect. After a minute, he tore himself away from Klaus. "You really are a monster."

As Caroline's lover stormed away, Klaus sunk back into his booth and let all the glee he'd gotten from putting Enzo in his place melt out of him. Taciturn and cheerless as ever. He looked over to Rebekah, and she felt frozen in place. Her turn? He didn't seem to notice her fear, or perhaps he ignored it, because he just picked up the partly shattered glass that Enzo had knocked away. "My drink is empty," he placed the thing on the table, "Be a dear and fetch me a new one, Bekah?"

"Whatever you need, Nik," Rebekah placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he reached up to squeeze back. There was her big brother.

But instead of going straight to the bar, Rebekah decided to slip outside and follow the man whose heart had just been surely and thoroughly broken. "Enzo!" she called out to him and watched him turn around slowly.

"Come to finish the job?" he asked gloomily.

"You deserved what you got, you know," she tried to convince herself as much as him. "I don't know why you two thought you could get away with it."

"We only wanted to-" the words caught themselves in Enzo's mouth as the compulsion took effect. "I never meant for-" again he could not speak a word about Caroline or any other Original. He kicked over a crate in frustration.

Rebekah sighed, "Don't try to fight it, you'll only end up biting off your own tongue. Believe me."

Enzo sunk down and leaned back against the alley wall. He was mired in fifth and rain water, but he didn't seem to care. He'd just had the woman he loved ripped away from him. A woman he likely knew didn't love him back, but Rebekah couldn't decide if that made it hurt more or less. Either way, soon enough the compulsion would force him to stand up and leave the city - he only had a few hours until sunrise after all - but for now he sat and wallowed in his despair

Rebekah took pity on him. "There's a reason Nik let you live, you know."

"Is there?"

"Caroline cares about you. So much," she walked towards him slowly as she explained, her heels clicking slowly against the stones beneath her feet like a heartbeat. "When she wakes up, it will be like no time has passed at all. She'll look for you."

Enzo lifted his head and there was hope in his eyes for the first time. He seemed to search for words that he was allowed to speak and finally found them, "That's the truth? You're sure?"

"I've been daggered enough times to know how it works, yes," Rebekah noted bitterly. "Keeping you alive is Nik's peace offering. In five or ten years, you'll have moved on to someone or something, and Nik will no longer see you as a threat. He'll get points with Caroline for being generous enough to let you live, while still getting you out of her life."

"I won't move on," he stood up, firm in his belief.

"Oh, yes you will," she let a bit of her own personal sorrow show then, "You always do."

Time and time again she had learned the lesson, and still Rebekah let herself fall. Men seemed to come in and out of her life through a revolving door, and every time she thought she'd found the one, like with Stefan, the story always ended up flipped on its head. They found someone new, or they fell to her father, or they simply just turned out to be so much less than she expected. The only thing that men seemed able to do consistently was disappoint her.

Rebkeah shook herself out her revery. "Don't do anything stupid," she prompted him. "Keep yourself alive, and maybe one day she'll find you again."

Enzo ran his hands through his hair and shook his head fiercely. "I can't just do nothing."

"There's nothing to be done," Rebekah tried to convince him. "Nik will not be threatened by anyone or anything, and he never loses a fight. You're finished, accept that. It's time to move on."

"He _almost_ never loses," Enzo corrected under his breath.

"What?" Rebekah couldn't help her confusion.

Something in her last little speech must have sparked a realization in him because all the anger and the fight went out of Enzo. "You're right," he seemed calmer and more accepting, "My part in this fight is done. And I need to get out of the city. Now."

Rebekah wasn't sure what sparked this acceptance, but she was relieved enough that she wouldn't question it. "Good luck."

"See you around, blondie," the vampire called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the foggy night air.

A bit of lingering doubt filled Rebekah as she turned around and went back inside, but it was quickly washed away when Stefan swept her onto the dance floor. Caroline was gone, but Nik wouldn't keep her down long. He never did. And in the meantime, she had love, liquor, and a life to live.

* * *

><p>Enzo drove like a demon out of hell leaving Chicago that night, but it was with a smile on his face and a new determination in his heart.<p>

Klaus had thought he was being unspeakably cruel, allowing him to retain his memories of Caroline. He likely though Enzo would ruminate and despair over them for years to come, and he surely would. But Klaus' cruelty would also be his downfall. Compulsion was an art form, and in his drunken stupor Klaus had gotten sloppy with it. Never speaking of an Original, didn't mean he couldn't indirectly point someone in the right direction, and Caroline had revealed more incriminating information to Enzo in their two years together than even Klaus knew; secrets of their past that Klaus could never imagine Enzo ever using.

But daggering Caroline had been the last straw. Who knew when that monster would wake her up, and whether it would be too late?

No matter how much Caroline loved her husband, Enzo would not sit by for decades while she rotted in a box. Klaus needed to be stopped, and there was only one man in existence who could complete that task.

Pulling into Pittsburgh hours and hours later, Enzo watched the sun begin to peek over the top of the skyline. His first stop was his old pal Travis Walker. A forger of identification for vampires like himself. In an age where everyone was classified and quantified by the government, professionals like Travis were becoming irreplaceable in the vampire community. Irreplaceable and _very _well connected.

"Travis, old buddy old pal," Enzo breezed into the place like he owned it, careful not to let too much of the creeping sunlight in. Not everyone had a nifty daylight ring like Caroline had acquired for him, and Travis' clientele weren't exactly fireproof.

"Lorenzo!" Travis' little head popped up from behind his work desk. "Or should I say Stuart Sherwood?"

"Never liked that name, mate," he teased the shrimpy little forger.

Travis just laughed and cracked his knuckles, getting down to business. "What can I do for you this time? A driver's license perhaps? They're all the rage these days! I hear they're going to start putting pictures on them soon. That U.S government just never stops..."

Enzo chuckled but waved him off. "I've got a different sized order this time, Trav."

"Oh yeah?" Travis suddenly looked a little nervous. Different was never good for vampires.

"Going to need you to find another vampire for me. Someone who's no doubt gotten _very _good at hiding over the centuries. Put some feelers out and see what your little pool of helpers turns up, won't you?"

Travis shook his head, a frown pulling his lips down. "My clients enjoy their privacy, Enzo. Poking around isn't in my job description-"

Enzo slapped a huge wad of hundred dollar bills down on the counter. Everything he'd squirreled away for his great adventure with Caroline. It was fitting somehow that this would be its true purpose.

"Happy to be of service," Travis slowly pulled the money out from under Enzo's hand. "So this vampire you're looking for... he got a name?"

"Mikael," Enzo murmured lowly. "His name is Mikael."

* * *

><p><strong>And thus ends the 20s section. I had initially wanted to bring Kol in and even Katherine since we know she was around back then, but as I said before, my inspiration took a serious hit with this section. The Mikael portion obviously plays out just like it does in canon since Caroline is already daggered, so I didn't feel the need to rip off that entire sequence for no reason.<br>**

REMEMBER TO REVIEW RESPECTFULLY!


	15. 1205 AD - Part 1

**Title: **If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything TO or TVD related belongs to the CW

_**A/N: You're going to see a bit of a softer Klaus in these chapters. After coming off of a 50 year torture session, and dealing with a... difficult Caroline, Klaus is less murder-y and more reserved. He's still the snarky little bastard we all know and love, but he's more concerned than ever with family and reconciliation. He's determined to prove the Hunter's Curse wrong and avoid becoming the monster they tried to convince him he was.**_

_**I'll warn you guys that Caroline is going to be very different in these chapters too. It's an incredibly dark time for her, so she's not the bright and bubbly girl you see each week on TVD. It's a bit of a personality swap for Klaus and Caroline. So don't go railing at me about OOC; I did give you a heads up! **_

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><p><strong>1205 A.D - Part 1<strong>

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><p>Looking around at the bloodbath that used to pass as a family of seven, Klaus wondered for the thousandth time what exactly he was going to do about this little situation.<p>

He was no stranger to the ways of vampirism, being one of the progenitors of the entire race.

During their first century as monsters, he and his family had played and experimented with all the different aspects of their new reality. How truly ageless was their eternal youth? How deep could a knife cut before temporary death was summoned? How long could one go without blood before they became rabid? How deep could compulsion run on a weak mind?

These were all questions that they researched and quantified and cataloged, his wife spearheading the venture as a intriguing new part of her daily routine. For years, they had uncovered the secrets of this spell that their mother had put on them.

And not long after they started turning their own specimens into vampires, they had come across something odd. Their curse had a strange new symptom that was all at once alarming and fascinating. It seemed that when the torture or regret or overwhelming sense of grief became too much for a young vampire, they had the ability to simply _stop feeling_. Not in the physical sense, no, but rather in a mental and emotional capacity. As if their own humanity were a candle that could be snuffed out at will or locked away in box and ignored completely. Heartbreak, joy, anger, love… these were all things that were tied exclusively to human emotion, and when that humanity was shunned, so were the feelings attached to it.

Elijah had been fascinated, but Caroline had been terrified. To turn away from every part of yourself that cared for your family, gave you a sense of right and wrong, and made you who you were? That disconnect shocked and frightened her beyond belief. Caroline had pulled away from the experiments then, but Klaus and Elijah had persisted. Every trait and facet of an emotionless vampire became as familiar as breathing to them. What they were capable of, how they thought and reasoned, what motivated them and what didn't. It was all carefully documented and tucked away like the rest of their research.

So no, Klaus was not unaware of what was happening here and now, more than a century later. Nor did he have any idea what to do about it.

Caroline had abandoned her humanity, and for the past forty years, the result had been murder and mayhem and unspeakable acts of violence. This latest display had been the combined efforts of not just his wife, but her recent cohort and bad influence, Kol.

"Be sure to check the attic, brother," Klaus called out to Elijah as they picked through the massacre for survivors. "You know how Kol enjoys a good chase."

Elijah shook his head but followed the directive. "We'll start the fire down here then, the story will fit better that way."

They were both all too used to this kind of clean up job by now.

After waking up from what Klaus liked to call her 'extended nap' when she wasn't listening, Caroline had been an emotional mess. Every day for weeks she would cry and scream and rip into anyone or anything that approached her. Klaus felt her misery as if it were his own, but she would not speak to him. She'd locked herself away and Rebekah was the only one she'd allowed entrance to her rooms. His sister told him tales of heartbreak and betrayal and so much rage. Rage that threatened to consume his wife whole.

He'd expected sadness. Tears and sobbing and despair. That, he would have been able to deal with, but the sadness had passed all too quickly, replaced by an anger he would never have expected. That had been both of their downfalls. Klaus had no way of helping Caroline through her fury, and Caroline had no way of dealing with it.

So instead of feeling the fire in her heart and burning in her stomach, Caroline had simply chosen not to feel at all.

One morning she had appeared at the breakfast table, cleaned up and dressed to perfection, and greeted them all with a cold look of bored indifference. She'd proceeded to strangle one of the cup bearers and drink him dry right on the table. He'd barely been nine-years-old. That was the only clue Klaus had needed to realize that his beautiful and compassionate Caroline had been erased. In her place was a woman with dead eyes and a deader heart.

"Two more in the attic," Elijah called out as he returned down the stairs. "Twin girls."

Klaus could hear the judgment in his tone, but he ignored it. They'd all committed their fair share of atrocities over the years, him more than most. "Survivors?"

"None."

Nodding slightly, Klaus picked up the nearest piece of cloth and held it over a candle until it was engulfed in flames. He tossed it on the bed in the corner and watched the whole thing catch alight. Elijah came to stand near him while they waited to be sure the fire took hold and burned house - and all the bodies inside - to the ground.

"Rebekah is weary of moving about so often," he murmured to Klaus darkly. "We've scarcely spent more than half a year in one place for ages. Perhaps if you just spoke to her-"

"Caroline does not speak to me," Klaus interrupted him, "You know this."

Elijah sighed, "Brother, if you would only try a bit harder-"

"She will come to me when she is ready, and not a day before," he cut Elijah off again. "In the meantime, I will be her dutiful husband and clean up her messes. As I have always done. If you and Rebekah tire of this life, then you are free to take yourselves elsewhere."

The offer hung stale in the air, and Klaus knew that Elijah would not take it. Even if Rebekah wanted desperately to build a more permanent home, Elijah would not leave Klaus to handle both Kol and Caroline on his own. And Rebekah would not leave her sister to her own monstrous fate. All things considered, it was actually quite the miracle that they'd stayed together this long. He'd expected Caroline to leave him after his betrayal with the daggering, and that was when she had had all her faculties about her. Without any emotional connection between them? Those odds had slipped to zero. And yet she stayed.

He supposed he had Mikael to thank for that.

Not long after waking Caroline, Klaus began receiving disturbing reports of a vampire who hunted vampires. None of them had paid much heed to rumors. What did they care if one of their progeny's progeny's had gone mad and started hunting their own kind down? As Originals, they were immortal, and they could always turn more humans. But then a name had turned up, whispered with fear and reverence on the lips of those who dared speak it. Mikael.

That had been when their running had become less of a nuisance and more of a necessity. For her part, Caroline dropped all talk of striking out on her own.

The threat of Mikael changed things for her. Klaus wouldn't go so far as to call it fear - that was too human - but perhaps it was something closer to a survival instinct? Logically, Caroline knew she had a better chance of living to see her 200th birthday if she stuck with her family. She had stayed put.

Elijah nudged him gently and nodded towards the door, "We can watch the rest from outside, Niklaus."

"Of course," he nodded and followed his brother out the door. It wouldn't do to get caught up in the flames themselves.

From the field outside, Klaus watched the house burn, as he'd watched hundreds of others burn over the years. Caroline's lack of humanity made her reckless, but that was exactly why Klaus never left her side. He was no longer her husband, he was her protector. A silent shadow, trailing after her and covering the bloody trail she left behind in order to keep her safe. Thinking on it, Klaus could not remember the last time he'd made a human kill. Twelve... thirteen years ago? Caroline killed enough for the both of them, and there was just no satisfaction in it anymore. The Hunter's Curse had done irreparable damage to his psyche, making it nearly impossible to take pleasure in his more monstrous nature.

If his wife noticed his change in behavior, she certainly didn't comment on it. Klaus and Caroline only spoke on the rarest of occasions, when it could not be avoided. He hoped some part of her still felt too much pain at the sight of him, and that was why she refused to interact with him. But he knew that was not the case. Caroline did not feel. No, rather there was a great sense of disdain and disregard in her conversations with him. As if she were a disappointed playmate and he the useless toy tossed at her feet. All traces of love were gone from her, and so there was no point to him anymore. Not in her eyes. He'd tried for years not to feel the sting of that rejection.

The brother she did have use for, however, was Kol. He tried not to feel the sting of that even harder.

Kol reveled in her lack of humanity as he reveled in his own. It had never been clear to Klaus whether Kol had simply abandoned his emotions all those years ago, or just slowly slid into merciless insanity all on his own. Either way, he and Caroline were two psychotic peas in a pod these days, and there was nothing and no one that could come between them and their next massacre.

"Are we done here, Niklaus?" Elijah's voice cut through the revery.

He tore his eyes away from the burning building, "Yes, we're through."

"When can I tell Rebekah to expect our next journey?" Elijah deadpanned as they made the long walk back to town. "Tomorrow? Or are we to flee in the middle of the night again?"

"You do enjoy playing the martyr, don't you Elijah?" Klaus made sure to let his brother hear his irritation. "No, we won't be leaving just yet. Tell our precious little sister that she can enjoy her stay in Burgundy a bit longer."

Elijah's gaze snapped over to Klaus, confused and alarmed. "You can't mean to stay? Not after this?"

He was right, of course. In any other circumstance, they would have left a long time ago. Caroline and Kol had torn through this little French province with an unmatched ferocity, and this was the sixth accident in as many months. By all accounts, Klaus should have had them packed and ready to leave a long time ago. But instead, he chose to stay, and his siblings had trusted his judgment. Until now it seemed.

"That's exactly what I mean to do," Klaus ignored Elijah's fussing.

"What is keeping you here, Niklaus?" Elijah questioned him. "What do you risk our lives for?"

Klaus sped up his walk, as if trying to escape the question as much as his brother. "We risk nothing. Stories of Mikael were in the far East only a fortnight ago. We are perfectly safe for now."

"I won't pretend to understand why you want to stay," Elijah turned and tugged at his arm to get him to stop, "But if the time comes to chose between your eccentricities and our family's safety, you know I will have to take whomever I can and run."

"As you should," Klaus nodded and ripped his arm out of Elijah's grasp, "My _noble_ big brother."

After one more long, angry stare, Elijah tore off back towards their home, not bothering to walk at a human pace anymore.

Klaus however, took his time. His pace was slow and entirely in the opposite direction of home. Careful to listen for anyone following, he finally ducked into the woods and flashed through the trees, pulling off some of his finer garments until he was dressed more modestly. He had one last visit to make before returning home, and it had been hard enough putting Elijah off so he could make the trip alone.

His reasons for staying in Burgundy were his own, and he would not have his siblings, or heaven forbid his wife, discovering them.

* * *

><p>Fire was such a strange element, Caroline thought to herself as she lit every last candle in the hall that served as their dining room. It could burn through everyone and everything. Except for her. She could set her own dress alight right now, and come sunrise not a thing in the world would change except there would be one less frilly concoction in her closet.<p>

"Will our next great venture be a wildfire?" Kol asked, noticing her gaze fixed on the candle in front of her. "No doubt it would be a sight to behold. All the screaming and running. Quite the spectacle."

Her brother sat reclined at the head of the table, leaning his chair back on two legs. He hovered there for a moment before leaning to one side to make it balance on only one leg instead. He threw out his hands in victory, shooting her a triumphant look at his achievement.

"You can't be _that_ starved for entertainment?" Caroline groaned, but smiled along with him nonetheless.

"Terribly so, I'm afraid," Kol shook his head. He let the chair drop back down and sprang to his feet. "Which is why I keep you around, dearest Caroline. Go on, entertain me."

Caroline rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to the candle. She still hadn't decided if she was going to light herself on fire yet. It would be nice to feel _something_ after so much nothing lately. It would certainly indulge Kol's request for entertainment.

"You keep _me_?" she prodded at him. "And here I thought it was entirely the other way round."

Kol looked affronted. "How do you figure? I'm a bloody delight."

"You're a menace, that's what you are."

"Oh, really?" Kol teased her, grabbing her arm in order to drag her around towards him. He moved them about in a circle, spinning and twirling her at his leisure; a mock dance, even though there was no music. She fell into step anyway. "I seem to recall someone writing to me, _begging _me to return to the fold. Have I not been everything you asked for, sister? Wild and free and murderous as the day is long?"

Caroline let herself be twirled, ignoring the blood she stepped in from the Constable who'd tried to stop them on their way home. To be fair, he had only been doing his job. The two of them were covered in blood and stumbling drunk. The poor man had been checking on their health. His corpse now rotted over on the dining table along with their wine. "You've been bearable, I suppose," she grinned at him.

"Bearable?" Kol pretended to be truly hurt. "Your words cut like a knife, you vile creature. Such rudeness cannot and will not be tolerated. Perhaps I'll throw you in the river or lock you in the dungeon for punishment?"

"I'm simply shaking with fear," Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Fine then, back in the box you go. A dagger to the heart should teach you-"

The words were barely out of Kol's mouth before Caroline had him pinned to the stone floor by the throat, her fangs bared and her hand digging into his chest to seize his heart. "Do not _ever _say those words to me again if you want your head to remain on your shoulders."

"Careful dearest wife of mine," Kol choked out, that grin still on his face, "All that anger... it's almost as if you _care_."

Caroline released him, and she was across the room faster than he could blink. She was careful to lick the blood off her fingers as she paced away from him. "Don't let Niklaus hear you calling me that, you know he hates it."

"Which is precisely why I do it," Kol mocked, content to pretend like her little outburst hadn't happened and his chest wasn't raw and bleeding. "Where _is_ my doting big brother? Elijah returned hours ago, surely it can't be taking Klaus this long to clean up one tiny mess."

That was the question of the year, wasn't it? Caroline had no idea where Niklaus snuck off to these days, nor did she care. Obviously. But she was... curious. Normally Klaus allowed them to drink their way through a city for a few months, and then he'd uproot them all for the purpose of secrecy and safety. Stories of a vampire who hunted vampires had crossed the continent, and a few too many of those stories included the name Mikael. They were all on edge, deciding to play it safe rather than linger in any one place and tempt fate. But Burgundy was different.

Klaus' typically plastered himself to Caroline's side. If he could not be her husband, he seemed content to be her ever-present chaperone, like a guard dog just waiting to pounce. Now though, he was reclusive and skittish. Gone for hours at a time, sometimes the whole night. When he came back, he reeked of the forest, doused in some sort of dirty animal scent. At first, Caroline had assumed he'd taken his new reserved diet to extremes and started feeding on woodland creatures. Even the thought of it repelled her. But she'd seen him biting into the servants too often for that to be true.

So what did he get up to in the woods these days?

And why was it important enough to keep them in town, when Caroline and Kol's antics should have sent them running for the hills months ago?

That pesky little lack of a conscience kept Caroline from caring too much - for either her life or his - but the more mischievous side of her longed to solve the mystery. Secrets were only so interesting as they were difficult to suss out, after all.

"Well," Kol picked himself up, seemingly bored with her introspective nature tonight, "I'm off to find someone of the female persuasion to meet my needs for the evening, since you seem incapable of doing so."

"Only in your most perverted daydreams, Kol," Caroline waved him off.

Her brother snickered. "Not even there, darling. Nik would castrate me for even the thought of it."

Caroline shrugged, but she knew it was true. However bitter Niklaus was over their friendship, she knew that if he ever suspected it had grown to something more, he would skewer Kol with a fire poker. Luckily for both Caroline and Kol, their lack of romantic affection was as resolute as the day they'd been married.

The large oak doors to the dining room slammed shut behind Kol as he left, and Caroline decided to indulge the urge she'd been fighting all night. Stepping towards one of the candlesticks on the table, she held a tasseled sleeve over the top of the flame and waited for it to catch fire. Sure enough the flames shot up the flimsy fabric, and soon enough they were licking at the skin of her hands and wrist. Caroline ground her teeth at the pain, but she did nothing to douse the fire. She just watched her skin blister and peel, wondering how long it would take for the rest of her to catch.

The pain wasn't exactly welcome but it was... different. Different from the numbness that had begun to weigh on her so heavily the past few years. She was unburdened by emotion and humanity, but that burden had been replaced by something worse. A coldness that she simply couldn't shake off. Perhaps that's where her fascination with fire had come from tonight? A desperate desire to warm herself by any means possible. She didn't even let out a cry as her arm started to turn black.

"Bloody hell, Caroline!" a distant shout shook her out of her intense focus.

Klaus had returned and he was on her in a moment. The coat in his hands quickly found its way around her arm, smothering the flames that had nearly reached her shoulder. Frantically, her husband patted them down until the embers were just barely smoking and the danger was gone. Peeling his coat back, they both got a look at the bloody and burned mess that used to be her forearm. Already she could see some of the skin trying to restore itself, glossing over with a prickly feeling that always came with vampire healing.

Klaus rushed to the table and grabbed the nearest goblet, biting into his own hand to fill it with blood. "Drink," he ordered firmly.

Knowing he would be insufferable otherwise, Caroline obeyed. When the cup was empty, she turned it upside down as proof that she'd sucked it all up.

"What were you thinking?!" Klaus yelled in her face.

The show of concern did not touch her, it only irritated her. Another lecture was coming, she could practically feel it. She raised one delicate eyebrow, but she did not answer him. It was a game that she played sometimes; how long could she stay silent before Niklaus blew up like a wildfire. His outbursts were amusing enough, but often they weren't worth the trouble. Perhaps this one would be?

"Are you suicidal now? Is that it?" Klaus demanded. When she didn't answer again, he grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Talk to me, dammit!"

"Why?" Caroline finally responded. "What would be the point, Niklaus?"

Klaus' eyes went comically wide. "The point? This point is you just lit your bloody arm on fire, that's why!"

"Maybe I was cold?" she smirked, but she got no similar reaction from him. Pity. Kol would have laughed.

"I am _worried_ about you, Caroline. Don't you see that?"

The love in his eyes set her off. It always did. There was such genuine devotion and longing for her painted all over his face every time he looked at her. She could barely remember their marital issues from before he'd stuck a dagger in her heart, but she knew that this renewed reverence would probably have solved many of them. It was only a shame that it came too late. Now all it did was make Caroline want to toss her husband away from her in order to escape that obvious adoration.

"Of course I see it," she hissed and pulled away from him, not content to let him manhandle her any longer. "The whole world sees it! It's all you do these days, Nik; worry about me. For half a century all you've done is worry about me! You've got no life or purpose of your own, and it's pathetic. I've moved on, why the hell can't you just do the same?!"

Her words seemed to strike at him like a slap, but she took no pleasure in a hit well landed. To feel pleasure she'd have to be able to feel. For some reason that bothered her. She wanted to revel in his pain, she wanted to feel the vindication of an insult that hit him squarely in the heart. She shook her head at thoughts like that. They were dangerous. As soon as you started _wanting_ to care...

Klaus shook off her tirade easily enough. He always did these days. "Perhaps if you would show even a speck of self-control, I could have my own life. Did you ever think of that? Instead, I'm stuck here, making sure my wife doesn't set herself on fire. Lucky me."

They stood shoulder to shoulder, locked in a staring match that neither of them would win. Klaus' eyes full of anger and Caroline's reflecting nothing. Those were their roles these days, and Caroline was happy to play her part.

"Well, I hope you're not expecting a 'thank you'," she droned, shooting him a sardonic look.

He shook his head, done with her for the evening, and grabbed his still smoldering coat. Then he took off towards the staircase, leaving her to her charred hand and ruined dress. A bit of that repressed anger slipped back out of her, and Caroline silently fumed. This was the first time that Klaus had expressed the desire to separate himself from her. Almost as if other matters held more of his attention than she did. It should have made her happy, or as close to happy as she could get these days, but it did not. Strangely, she was even more irritated now.

Maybe she would look into these 'other matters' that were so important to him. They were husband and wife after all, and secrets could tear a marriage apart.

Or so she'd heard.

* * *

><p><strong>I had a very Spike &amp; Drusilla thing happening for me when I wrote Kol and Caroline for this section. Obviously without the sex and twisted love thing, but their bloodlust and looney toons behavior was just too fun to resist. You'll notice in coming chapters that Kol is a bit more in touch with his emotions than Caroline. And Caroline... well she be crazy. Just a little bit.<strong>

**This is going to be a rough road to recovery, I'm not going to lie, but ultimately it's the story of Klaus drawing emotion out of Caroline again and earning her trust back after daggering her for so long. It's a happy story, I promise! Even if Caroline is a little psycho...**

**In other news - who wants to guess what Klaus is doing out in the woods all alone? **


	16. 1205 AD - Part 2

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything related to TO or TVD belongs to the CW

**_A/N: So now that we've established that Caroline has turned her humanity off because she could not deal with Klaus' betrayal, we also know that she is kind of BATSHIT CRAZY. Girl set herself on fire, okay? This chapter is long, but it's setting up the climax of this section and moving everything into place._**

**_And this chapter also witnesses the return of the Klaroline smut. Enjoy._**

* * *

><p><strong>1205 A.D - Part 2<strong>

* * *

><p>"You can't be serious," Rebekah's voice practically dripped with disdain. "I won't do it. Not even for you."<p>

Klaus shook his head at her dramatics, staving off a headache. How was it possible that so many years later, centuries really, his little sister was still such a pain? Surely time should have erased most of her more aggravating qualities? Praying for patience, Klaus regrouped and tried again.

"Bekah," he spoke slowly, using every fiber of his being to stay calm, "I'm not asking for the moon, darling. I'm just asking that you spend the day with your sister and try to keep her out of trouble."

"That's strange, I thought I'd just said no. And yet there you go again, asking me to do the impossible," she snapped.

He nearly threw something.

Unfortunately, there was not much to throw in Rebekah's room, nor the space to throw it. These days Rebekah employed - _compelled_ - a veritable army of servants to do her will and pass her time. Klaus was certain that not even the Queen of France had this many ladies maids. He doubted Rebekah found much friendship with them, as they mostly spent their time walking about in a daze, but he supposed mindless workers were better company than none at all. Currently, his sister stood perched on a pedestal in the center of the room, while three ladies took various measurements for a new dress. One attended to the sleeves, the other the hem, and the third hovered like a nervous little bird, waiting to be called on and terrified of it at the same time.

And that was how Rebekah chose to live her life without her family. Klaus was too busy chasing off after Kol and Caroline. Elijah was always scouting their next location for when they inevitably had to flee. And the other two… well their methods of passing the time ran a little too dark for Rebekah these days.

Any stranger could see that the youngest Original was incredibly lonely and had been so for decades. Klaus almost felt sorry for her.

"What are you still doing here, Nik? I told you no, so scurry off like a good little kicked puppy."

Almost.

This called for a slight change in tactics. "You want to stay here, don't you little sister? You hate moving about every few months, living our lives like criminals and vagabonds." Rebekah lost her edge for a moment, and snuck a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. Klaus took his opening. "You enjoy this city and this house, and your…" he hesitated, looking around at the women circling her, "…friends. Don't you miss the days of settling into one place?"

"Of course I do," Rebekah scoffed, "But it's not _my_ fault we're always moving."

"I know that," Klaus adopted a sympathetic tone, "And it kills me to see you so unhappy."

His words had begun to take hold, he could see. Rebekah truly was starved for affection if so little could sway her, and Klaus took a minute to feel mildly guilty about that. In his vigilant attention to his wife, he'd neglected his precious baby sister. Once things returned to normal, he'd have to see to that.

"Caroline is at a tipping point," Klaus explained to her. "I can feel it. Kol said she was angry last night, and that's a good sign."

"Angry is what got us into this mess, remember?" Rebekah sneered.

He did remember. All too well. The torn curtains, flipped tables, and smashed furniture were all seared into his memory as the last time he'd seen Caroline exhibit any kind of emotion. That memory grew fainter and fainter over the years. "Regardless," Klaus held up his hands to placate Rebekah, "It is still a window of opportunity. If she's feeling - feeling anything at all - then we have to try to use that. Say you'll do it Rebekah?"

"I don't see why I should try. Kol's been at it for decades and he's gotten nowhere."

He ignored her. "Kol is a bad influence, but some time spent with you? You always could get through to her when the rest of us couldn't."

His sister stood up a little straighter at the compliment. Just because he was using the praise persuasively didn't mean it wasn't true. Caroline and Rebekah had been the best of friends for over a hundred years, and there was a special kind of bond between the two women that Klaus could not hope to understand. Perhaps it was because they were the only two girls in the bunch, or perhaps it was something deeper. Either way, they were sisters in every sense of the word.

Rebekah considered his proposal for another moment. "What is your real angle here, Nik?" she asked. "You've been acting strangely for months, don't think I haven't noticed."

"That's none of your concern," he dodged.

"There _is _a reason you want to stay here, isn't there?" she prodded again, ever suspicious of his true motives.

"Will you do it or not?" Klaus redirected her. Nosy siblings; was there anything more annoying?

She stayed silent for a moment, toying with the idea of turning him down, even after all of his efforts. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of holding his breath, but that didn't mean he wasn't fervently hoping that she would put him out of his misery and just agree. In the end, she grabbed hold of her skirts and hopped off her pedestal, leaving the servants to scurry at her heels.

"Fine, I'll spend the day with her," Rebekah managed to sound snooty even when she was giving him what he wanted. "But don't you dare go blaming me when this doesn't work. She's had forty years to stop being a terror, I don't see why she would bother to end it now."

Klaus pulled her in and pecked her on the cheek. "Have I told you you're my favorite sister?"

"About as many times as I've told you that you're my _least_ favorite brother," she countered as he took off towards the door. "Remember, I made no promises!" she called just as he rounded the corner.

That was one problem taken care of. And Rebekah had fallen for his pleas completely, even if he had no hope of her success.

It wasn't exactly that he expected Rebekah to fail, he just didn't expect her to make the kind of progress he'd led her to believe he did. The real goal here was just to keep his wife entertained and occupied. Caroline, the little she-devil, was becoming increasingly suspicious about where he spent his time lately. She put on airs of not caring one way or the other, but recently her questions and not-so-subtle jabs at his lack of a hobby had become utterly transparent. She was curious. And he suspected that her curiosity mixed with her lack of humanity would prove to create a lethal concoction.

Keeping her occupied while he took another excursion to the woods was for the best. If it somehow reconnected Rebekah to her best friend, well then, all the better.

"Now what on earth could you possibly be up to?" a cheeky voice that could only belong to _his_ least favorite brother called out to him.

Klaus turned on the spot and watched the man in question step out of the shadows where he'd been hiding. "Kol. What have I told you about lurking?"

"That it's my most endearing habit?" Kol grinned and winked at him. That boy was too in love with his own humor.

"Don't you have to go gut a kitten or something?" Klaus asked.

Kol laughed along with the joke. "Nonsense, kitten slaughtering is for Wednesdays, everyone knows that."

He couldn't stop the small smile that snuck onto his face. Kol had a way about him that always seemed to draw out the wild and witty side of people. You just couldn't stay irritated with him for long. It was a gift and a curse, but one that had served him well over the years. It was serving them both well now with Caroline. Klaus took off on down the hall, knowing that Kol would follow. He'd sought him out for a reason after all.

"So where are you going, Nik?" Kol fell into step beside him.

"Nowhere that concerns you," he shook off his brother's questioning. First Rebekah, now Kol. Elijah was getting nosy too. "Perhaps you should focus more on your own tasks, and less on mine. After Caroline's little fire show last night, I'm beginning to doubt you're making any progress at all."

"Her humanity is proving elusive, that's for sure," Kol agreed. "It's a slow battle, but it's one I'm winning, don't you worry."

"I do worry," Klaus stopped and pulled at his arm. "The whole point of your return was to ease Caroline back into her emotions, and all you've done for decades is play with her like she's your new toy. If anything, you're pushing her further down this dark path instead of away from it."

Kol grabbed Klaus' wrist and delicately removed it from his person. "I'm doing this my way, brother. Either trust me to handle it correctly, or send me back out on my own. Good luck keeping Caroline on a leash without me though."

Klaus sighed and let his hand drop back to his side. He knew Kol was right, however frustrating it was. At least with Kol by her side, Caroline would always be in the company of someone who could put her down if necessary. Letting her wander off on her own, no matter how close she stayed to the family, was a recipe for disaster. And for all his joking, Kol did truly seem to want Caroline to get better. Kol's report last night had given Klaus the smallest bit of hope to cling to. If she had been angry last night, even for just a brief moment, then there was a crack in her perfect composure. All they needed to do was let that crack spread and shatter. Unfortunately for Klaus, his presence only seemed to make Caroline clam up even tighter. So it fell to his brother to nurse that little crack he'd caused.

"Just get it done, Kol," Klaus threatened, but it came out as more of a plead. "I'm tired of running all the time, and I want my wife back. By any means necessary."

Kol saluted and backed away. "As you wish, Nik."

His brother took off in a flash, and Klaus was left with a strange feeling of dread in his gut. Giving Kol carte blanche on this matter was asking for trouble, but at this point it was necessary. All of them wanted a home and life that didn't consist of hopping from one country to the next. Burgundy was as good a place as any to start building that life.

And Klaus had more than enough reasons to stay.

* * *

><p>Caroline couldn't decide who was being more obvious, Rebekah or Klaus.<p>

Her sister's invitation to walk the market with her was a surprise, and not an altogether unpleasant one. Kol was wonderful, but sometimes a girl needed a bit of female company. However, it was plain as day that Rebekah had been coerced into this little trip. She was quiet and careful, keeping Caroline in her sights at all times and feigning interest in stalls and merchandise that she would never have normally considered. On any other occasion, seeing Rebekah so riled up would have been amusing. But Caroline sensed Klaus' hand in this.

Why else would her formally estranged sister pick up the mantle of 'minder' for the day? Her doting big brother had asked her to, and so Rebekah had jumped at the chance to please him. Predictable as the setting sun.

"Oh no, not the green, Caroline," Rebekah scolded her and ripped the piece of fabric she'd been considering away. "It's not a flattering color for you at all. No, you must stick to the reds and the blues. They soften your features and bring out your eyes."

Her sister held up a radiant piece of silk that reminded Caroline of a storm filled ocean. It looked nearly black actually. Caroline wrinkled her nose at it. She wasn't in mourning - truthfully she couldn't even remember the process - and she certainly wouldn't dress like it. "I think I prefer the red," she turned away from Rebekah's eager eyes.

"Shocking," she heard Rebekah mutter under her breath.

"Sorry, what was that?"

The other girl just plastered an ironic smile on her face. "Nothing, dear. Red is a beautiful choice."

"This is a _beautiful_ waste of my time," Kol snarked, popping his head in between the stalls. Rebekah turned her nose up at him and returned to browsing. Kol stuck his tongue out the moment her back was to him. "Why did we come here again?"

"_You_ weren't invited," Caroline reminded him, "And I came because I need a new dress. My best one was… ruined."

"Right, ruined," Kol shot her a knowing look, which meant that Klaus had told him all about the little fire incident. Perfect.

Even on her best days, Caroline couldn't tell whom Kol's true allegiance belonged to. For the most part, he seemed to revel in the blood and indiscriminate murder just as much as she did. His appetite was insatiable, and there was no better traveling companion for her than a man who saw human life as disposable. And yet at other times, she suspected that he was playing a sort of game with her. That his allegiance rested with Niklaus' futile mission to rehabilitate her, and their adventures were merely a way for him to take measurements of her mental state. After each slaughter, she shook the silly thought away, but still... there was something lurking deep inside of Kol that seemed dangerous.

Not dangerous in the way the she was dangerous to humans or fire was dangerous to pretty dresses. No, Kol's little secret was dangerous because it was completely unprecedented. He seemed to have no humanity or conscience to speak of when it came to the humans, but when it came to his family... there was something there. Maybe the bonds of blood beat too strongly in his veins, or maybe he just couldn't seem to cleave himself from the brothers and sisters who loved him so well. But Caroline saw it. She saw the contented sighs and the ghostly grins that came over him when all of them were together. A barking laugh at Rebekah's jokes, or a playful ruffle of Niklaus' hair. He could not care less about the human world, but his family? He loved them fiercely.

And love was dangerous for Caroline.

She was not like Kol. She could not rip into countless innocent lives and then turn around and let herself feel love for the people who used to mean the world to her. She could not reconcile those two different sides of herself or compartmentalize this emotion from that.

"How long must we stay here, Caroline?" Kol whined loudly.

She sighed at his antics and refocused on the fabrics she'd been sorting through. "No one is keeping you here, Kol. I'm not holding a leash, you're not a dog, chained to my side." Kol chose to whimpering pathetically at the comparison. She couldn't help but laugh.

"There's that smile!" Kol poked her cheeks, which only caused her to grin further.

The moment the joy hit her chest, she made shut it out and let the smile slide away. Little bits of fun were with Kol was turning into full blown enjoyment. She'd have to see to that eventually. For now though, Caroline let herself be distracted as Kol made soft yipping noises while pawing at her dress, eager to get that laughter back.

"Fine! You mangy animal, where would you like to go, then?"

"Victory!" Kol shouted, ignoring the strange looks of the merchants in front of him. "I'm glad you asked, actually. It just so happens that I followed Niklaus' after he left this morning. Care to see what big brother has been up to in the woods all this time?"

Caroline grinned mischievously. The secret she'd been dying to know for months was now at her fingertips. She peered across the alley to see Rebekah in a heated debate with a vendor about which necklace better suited her dainty neckline. She'd be at it for hours the way things looked now. Caroline turned back to Kol and place her hand in his outstretched palm.

"Lead the way."

* * *

><p>There was something to be said for living in the woods.<p>

For the past two hundred years, Klaus had lived in castles and estates, grand manors and decadent palaces. The small village peasant in him adored the luxury, he truly did. But times like these, surrounded by trees and huts and fires... it reminded him of home. A modest upbringing with a loving family and simple needs. The fire crackling in front of him was not destructive or dangerous, it was simply for warmth and enjoyment. To gather around on a cold day and share a meal.

"You're thinking deep thoughts again my boy," a deep voice accompanied the hand that was clapped him on the shoulder.

"A habit I find hard to break," Klaus joked and looked up at the bearded face looming over him. "Forgive me, Tobias, I'm in a rather strange mood today."

Tobias, a large and rugged man, ruffled his hair as an excuse of his poor behavior. Normally such gestures were allowed strictly to his siblings, but Tobias had taken on a rather strange role in Klaus' life lately, and he found himself granting the man leniencies that he would not have dreamed of with anyone else. In exchange, he received words of encouragement, friendship, and even affection. Dare he say it, this man had become almost like a father figure to him in recent months. Which was absurd, he knew. Klaus had nearly two centuries on the man, and he should feel nothing but disdain and maybe a bit of irritation for someone so young treating him like just another lad. But to Tobias, that was precisely what Klaus was. Not a vampire, not a monster, not a murderer. He was just a lost young man.

A lost young wolf.

The night he'd met Tobias, Klaus had barely spoken two words to him. It was fairly difficult to hold a conversation when one of you walked as a man and the other a bloodthirsty werewolf. The moon had been full, but Klaus had not given another thought to it. Not until Tobias had come leaping out of the bushes, all fur and teeth and growling aggression. But just like the night with Henrick all those years ago, Tobias had recognized one of his own kind, and he'd hesitated before attacking. And in that hesitation, Klaus had seen the glowing yellow eyes for what they truly were.

Family. Blood. Pack.

Klaus had never stumbled upon another group of wolves in all his time in the Old Country. He'd actually begun to believe that he was the last of his kind, doomed to roam the earth forever as the sole survivor of his race. Tobias and his pack represented an opportunity that he was starved to take advantage of. A chance to know and understand what his life might have been, if he had not been cursed to lock his own wolf away.

And so the next day, he'd returned to the woods and searched for the wolf he'd stumbled across in the dead of night. Imagine his surprise when he found an entire encampment of them recovering from their nightly run. Now, he escaped to the woods whenever he could. To meet with his people and learn about the history of a race that was more prosperous than he'd imagined. Looking around the camp today and seeing well over a hundred souls, he could not help but smile. The last of his kind? Far from it.

"One should never break a good habit, Niklaus," Tobias scolded him. "Thinking deeply is a rare gift these days. What is on your mind, son?"

Klaus tried not to show how much he preened at that moniker. Son. "A woman, I'm afraid."

"Ah, that ever elusive topic which vexes all men," the older man laughed in good nature. "That wife of yours is still giving you trouble then?"

"Constantly," Klaus shook his head in frustration. He'd been careful not to give Tobias too many details. He could hardly tell the man that he was pouting over his wife's slaughter of a an entire family the night before. No, he kept his stories vague and his complaints vaguer. It was amusing to see how he could twist his own stories to mimic the issues that a normal husband and wife would have. "I can't seem to control her anymore. Not that I ever could, really. But her more... free-spirited habits are going to get us all into trouble one day."

"Controlling a woman is a pointless task, my boy," Tobias chuckled. "You can create the illusion of it, but ultimately they do as they please. Trust me, I know."

The man's aggravated tone brought Klaus back to the discussion they'd been having before his mind had strayed to Caroline. "Forgive me, you had been in the middle of telling me about your daughter earlier. You're having similar problems with her?"

"Edda is reluctant to make the change, that's all," Tobias drew him back into their previous conversation as he returned to his story. "I keep trying to tell her that it is a wolf's nature to kill, but she's always been a gentle soul, and taking another life seems beyond her. It's the natural order of our people, to hunt down those who hunt us, but she's still… hesitating."

"You can't pretend you don't understand her hesitation," Klaus offered the man his counsel. "This world is changing. Becoming more civilized and structured. The time of small, independent clans and villages is ending, making way for king and country. The old ways and customs are fading."

Tobias nodded morosely. "They are, and yet the hunters still follow us. No matter how quietly we move or how fast we flee, they follow."

"Is there nothing to be done about it? If you would only tell me their names..." Klaus offered his assistance.

"No," Tobias warned him off quickly. "It has been this way for generations. They hunt, we run. We hunt, they die. You would think they would simply let us live in peace, but... At least they present us with fresh kills to turn our young ones."

The tales of these hunters were like ghost stories, drifting through the camp between young and old. Far different from vampire hunters, who seemed to pick up the craft when they pleased as they pleased, werewolf hunters were different. An ancient bloodline, bred for the soul purpose of eradicating the proud race of wolves. Human, yes, but no less fierce for it. Many times Klaus had felt the urge to help Tobias track down this band of brutes. Anyone who dared threaten his family met a bloody end, and Tobias' pack was nearly family after all. When you took into account bloodlines, that was.

Klaus pushed his luck once more. "You know I am well connected, if you would only let me-"

"I thank you for your offer, Niklaus," Tobias cut him off, "But I must decline as always. We are safe for now. We will try our best to maintain the customs of our people, out here. Away from it all."

"Well," Klaus let it go, allowing himself a smile, "You're succeeding so far."

"Are we?" Tobias laughed.

"Of course," Klaus motioned to life all around them. "You live by your own laws, you remain undiscovered, and you don't kill indiscriminately. So long as the humans remain none the wiser, you could thrive quite happily out here."

A darkness entered his friend's eyes just then. "We do not kill indiscriminately, no. But others do."

"Others?"

"We've noticed a change in the area these past few months," Tobias revealed, his voice at a whisper as if he were relaying a great secret. "Human families gone missing, fires and disease. Too many accidents. There is something else on this land that threatens our discreet way of life."

"Something else?" Klaus hoped the catch in his voice was only in his mind.

"Vampires," Tobias glared into the fire between them. "I've heard the tales, and I know enough of those monsters to recognize the signs. We had hoped these creatures would simply move in and out quickly, but it seems they could be here to stay for a good long while. We will have to pack up and leave soon, for fear of attracting the wrong kind of attention."

Klaus ground his teeth together. Caroline and Kol's thirst for blood was troublesome for the Originals, to be sure, but now it apparently threatened Tobias' family as well. This pack depended on secrecy and subtlety to stay alive, and his reckless family was about as subtle as a crack of thunder. He'd thought it was a blessing that their kills hadn't brought Mikael right to their door, but it was a damn miracle that they hadn't brought the wolf hunters down on this town in the meantime. He'd noticed Tobias growing more and more weary as of late, and it was all because of his own inability to control his wife.

"Tobias..." Klaus didn't even know how to attempt to apologize.

"Not to worry, my boy," the old man shook off the dark atmosphere. "We'll not be going anywhere just yet, so enjoy the night while you can. Soak in what it truly means to be one of the wolves."

Klaus tried to ignore the gnawing guilt in his gut and do just that.

It was a modest living, to be sure, but Klaus found it quaint. If not a little rustic for his tastes. The truth was he found himself envious of Tobias' life. Not just the fact that he was leader of a pack, or free to change on the full moon. But that he lived so happily with his family. All of them. Together in harmony. He couldn't imagine Rebekah living happily out here, away from all of her finery and maids. Nor Kol, who needed constant entertainment and buffoonery. Elijah would sneer at these peasants, and Caroline… well Caroline would either drink the lot dry or giggle merrily as they tore her apart on a full moon. It was a gambit.

He could practically hear her deranged laughter now. Wait... he could hear her laughter.

Klaus stood up in a flash and spun around, coming face to face with his worst nightmare. Caroline and Kol walked arm in arm through the camp, laughing merrily while surveying the people he'd come to think of as his pack. Caroline's eyes shifted over to him, and there was more than a hint of mischief in them. If he'd had any doubts that she knew exactly what these people were, they were gone with that one single look.

"So this is where you've been sneaking off to?" Caroline teased as she and her companion sidled up to him and Tobias. "I admit, I'm pleasantly surprised. Part of me was convinced that you'd found a lover or some such nonsense to waste your time with. But no... you've found a pet," she eyed Tobias up and down. "It's adorable."

"You shouldn't be here, Caroline," Klaus hissed, grabbing her arm to drag her away. She stayed put, unmovable. "You need to leave."

She smiled at the challenge. "What are you going to do if I don't? Set your dog on me?" she motioned to Tobias.

"Madam," Tobias tried his hardest to remain civil in the face of the insult. Caroline and Kol were dressed in fine clothing, indicating their station. He would not take his life in his hands by insulting a noble lady, no matter how fake her title really was. "I will have to ask you to leave. My family does not take kindly to strangers, and you were not invited into our home."

Kol snorted a bit with laughter. "Home? It's the bloody woods."

"The woods are our home."

"How... animalistic." Caroline bit her lip, making sure Klaus felt the full weight of her words.

Before he could respond or attempt to excuse her strange words, a small voice squeaked out from his left. "Father?"

Four sets of eyes snapped over to the young girl who looked confused and a little frightened. Edda, Tobias' girl was barely on the cusp of womanhood, and far too bold for her own good. She'd either failed to sense the tone of this interaction, or sensed too accurately that her father was outnumbered here. She stepped forward bravely, coming to stand next to Tobias, who immediately sought to send her away.

"Edda, go find your mother," Tobias kept his voice low and even. "Now."

The girl hesitated, but stayed put by her father's side. She looked over Klaus, knowing him to be a friend, and her eyes skated over Kol easily enough. They rested on Caroline as the real threat, and Klaus cursed the girl's instincts. They would only cause trouble.

"Won't you introduce us, Nik?" Caroline examined the girl up and down. "You're being terribly rude."

He stared her down, and Caroline pulled her lips back to let just the slightest hint of fangs show as a warning. She'd clearly heard enough of his previous conversation to know that the pack had no idea he was anything other than a regular wolf. "Tobias. Edda. I'd like you to meet my wife Caroline. She was just leaving."

"Your wife?" Tobias looked shocked. He knew enough from Niklaus' tales to know that Caroline was wild, but that he loved her more than life itself. Ever the diplomat, Tobias attempted to smooth over their rough introduction. "Forgive me, my lady, we seem to have gotten off to a rough start. Any relation of Niklaus' is welcome here."

Caroline smiled kindly at him, but Klaus could see the malevolence in her stare. There was no kindness there, only cold and calculating plotting. She was debating how best to ruin this situation for him, he could tell. The obvious choice would be to drink Tobias dry in front of all of his family and friends, revealing her true nature, and outing Klaus' secret in one move. Klaus dared her to try. Caroline knew exactly how to hurt him, and the result would surely be catastrophic, but he'd be damned if he let it happen without a fight. Every muscle in his body tensed as he waited for Caroline to spring into action.

"How fortunate," Kol's obnoxious voice broke the building tension, "Since Klaus rudely neglected to introduce me as his brother."

He extended his hand, which Tobias took happily. That man was too forgiving for his own good.

For a brief moment, Klaus hoped that this situation could be smoothed over. Kol could be his charming self, Caroline could show a modicum of restraint, and they could all make it out of here without incident. That brief flicker of hope was doused quite thoroughly when Tobias extended his hand to Caroline with a small bow, and she proceeded to use it to yank the man forward while she bared her fangs.

Caroline sunk her teeth into the man's forearm, scoring his skin down to the wrist before tossing him to the ground. The bite had not been to feed, it had simply been to cause a panic, which she had done surely and swiftly. She licked the blood off her lips, making sure to let anyone nearby see the vampiric features taking hold on her face. Klaus dove for his fallen friend, and in the confusion, Caroline launched herself behind Edda. He knew what would happen before she even made the move, and Klaus' eyes snapped shut as he heard the crack of Edda's neck being broken. The girl's body sunk the the forest floor, landing with a soft thump.

Screams echoed out of those nearest the scene, followed by running and panicked shouts.

"Hmm," Kol sighed and rubbed at his forehead in irritation. "This could have gone better."

Klaus ignored his attempt at humor, grabbing Caroline by the shoulders and shaking her roughly. "Damn you! What did you do!"

"You... you..." Tobias crawled towards his daughter, sobbing in despair. He looked back up at Caroline, her face still demonic, and the fear returned to his eyes. "Niklaus move away!" he warned his protege.

Caroline only laughed. "Yes, Nik, why don't you run from the evil vampire? Why aren't you simply terrified of me?"

"Caroline, don't," Klaus warned, but he knew it was futile. She'd come here with one imperative, and that was to make his life miserable. Just as she'd done the past forty years.

Her response was to wipe Tobias' blood off her lips and shoot her hand out to quickly smear it across his face. He pulled away sharply, but it was too late. The delicious scent was on his lips and in his nose, and his screaming, pounding bloodlust rose to meet it with reckless abandon. Klaus' eyes bled red and his teeth sharpened to points. In his anger, he actually snapped at Caroline, hissing like the feral beast he was. She pulled herself back out of his reach, but that self-satisfied smirk stayed on her face. She'd won this battle.

"Niklaus..." Tobias scurried back through the dirt even further, his gaze transfixed. Fear was now tempered by revulsion, as Tobias realized what he truly was. Not a wolf, but a vampire. The very monster he'd just warned Klaus about.

He moved forward, pushing back his hunger to restore his human features. "I won't hurt you," he tried to reason with his friend, but there was no reason to be had.

"Stay away, demon!" Tobias shouted, his booming voice no longer jovial and friendly, but threatening and accusatory.

"It's still me, Tobias, I'm still your friend-"

"You're an abomination!"

The word struck at Klaus like a lightening strike. How could this be happening again? Too much wolf in him for Mikael, too much vampire for Tobias. Was there no family for him anywhere? No one who would accept both halves of him as a whole? His anger and pain made him want to rip into this false father figure as if he were Mikael himself, determined to shun and reject him. It took every bit of practiced will power he had to turn away instead and leave Tobias bleeding in the dirt.

He rounded on Caroline and Kol. His brother looked uncertain, almost... guilty. He masked it well, leaning back against a tree and picking at his fingers with what appeared to be boredom, but Klaus could see the frown on his face and he could practically smell the heavy sense of regret about the man. He'd been looking to get a reaction out of Caroline - just as Klaus had ordered - and maybe stir up a bit of trouble. He hadn't meant to cause something like this. Caroline though... she looked downright gleeful. Her eyes shone with victory as she carefully popped each of her bloody fingers into her mouth to suck them clean.

"You..." Klaus growled, stalking towards her slowly. As if she were prey.

Caroline stayed exactly where she was. Unafraid. "Are you angry?" she pouted playfully.

"Caroline," Kol finally took note of Klaus' murderous expression. "I think it's time for you to start running."

"Oh, goodie," she giggled maniacally and picked up her skirts, prepared to do just that, "I love a good chase."

She was off in a blur, running as fast as she possibly could. Klaus didn't delude himself into thinking she was actually afraid of him - though she should be if the simmering rage in his chest was any indication of what he might do when he caught her. No, Caroline saw this as yet another game in her dangerous wheelhouse of murder and manipulation. Abandoning her humanity had turned his wife into the worst version of herself, and he was utterly finished putting up with it. He would not be her guard dog or her silent servant any longer. He would force her to restore her humanity, or she would be on the receiving end of another silver dagger.

This had gone too far.

"I'll deal with you later," Klaus pointed an accusatory finger at Kol, who only raised his hands in surrender.

Sparing one last glance at the frightened and confused pack that he had almost called his own, Klaus tore off after his wife back in the direction of town.

* * *

><p>Caroline made it back to the manor in record time. She'd debated letting Klaus catch her out in the wild with nothing but trees and boulders to be collateral damage, but that all seemed like so much less fun. Here, surrounded by all his fine things and the useless bits of cloth that should have been their marriage bed, she could delight in a bit of true destruction. She was fingering the heavy tapestry that hung on Klaus' walls, when the man himself burst through the doors.<p>

He was a blur of anger and speed, knocking over chairs and sconces as he went.

"You wicked, monstrous woman!" he screamed at her.

Caroline retreated quickly from his charging form, but a smile stayed on her face. "Stop, you'll make me blush."

His response was to turn over another piece of furniture. A chest that looked vaguely familiar. It's contents spilled out all over the floor, but Klaus paid them no mind. He was too focused on trying to hold himself back from her. It was clear from the murder in his eyes that he wanted to tear her to pieces, but the last scrap of love he had for her stopped him from acting on the impulse. She seethed at the idea. What did she have to do to kill that love?

"Do you want another dagger in your heart?" he yelled at her, apparently angry enough to bring up the one topic he never dared broach with her. "I'll do it, you know I will! I'll put you down and rob you of a whole century if you push me!"

"You wouldn't dare," she sniffed at the threat and rolled her eyes.

He groaned and pulled at his hair because she was right. He wanted her to be the old Caroline again, the one who loved and obeyed him. Not a lifeless doll, resting in a pine box. That was her trump card. His desire for her was the one weapon she had to wield against him and she would do it happily until... she didn't really know until when. There had been no endgame or final destination in sight for her. His misery was her only goal, and thinking about the future for too long had never been in her best interest. Even thinking on it now was difficult.

Klaus clenched his fists, trying and failing to suppress the violence inside of him. "Just because you won't let yourself find any happiness is this world, you are determined to rob me of it too? I don't deserve that, Caroline!"

That snapped her to attention.

"You don't deserve it?" she hissed back at him. "You deserve worse!"

"Oh yes," Klaus threw his hands in the air, sarcasm seeping out of him. "I was _so _horrible, and you are _so _damaged. Grow up, Caroline! I've more than paid my debt, and we both know it! You only continue to torture me because it's easier for you, not because I deserve it!"

Caroline seethed. He couldn't actually be claiming innocence? Like he'd somehow worked off his crimes against her? That hit her harder than any of his pleading requests or longing looks of love.

She lost the tight grip on her practiced indifference. "You deserve every minute of it and more! Fifty two years, Klaus! Fifty two years you stole from me, while I lay daggered in a box. You drove a knife through my heart and _killed me_. My own husband! You deserve hell!"

"_I am in hell_!" he rushed her, grabbing hold of her roughly. Her back cracked loudly as she made contact with the stone wall behind her. He stood closer than any decency would allow, growling his next words in her face. "Every day I spend with you is hell. I love you more than I've ever loved anything, but you're determined to throw that love away like it's nothing. Our own family doesn't understand why I can't let you go. You've taken everything from me, Caroline! My love, my family, my pack. I have nothing left!"

"You have me!" her shrill scream pierced the air.

There was only silence between them for a long moment. Neither of them moved, pressed close against one another, the hard wall at her back. Klaus' throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed, and his eyes narrowed at her. He didn't understand. She barely understood herself, but the words came tumbling out anyways.

"You have me, and I _will not_ be tossed aside for some pack of animals in the woods that aren't even your real family," Caroline felt her voice crack, but she carried on regardless, "They died, Nik! They died hundreds of years ago across the sea in a different life. You are not a wolf anymore, and they are not your family, I am! Don't you dare leave me for them!"

Some delicate piece of glass had cracked inside of her and the words had just come pouring out of her. Caroline couldn't tell exactly where her little tirade had come from, but that didn't make it any less true. She'd pushed Klaus so far away all these years, constantly trying to keep him at a safe distance. And now all that pushing had pushed him directly into the waiting arms of a family who could give him something she never could. Love and acceptance. She'd felt him slipping away these past few months, and whatever scrap of humanity or love she had left inside of her had panicked at the thought that he would actually leave. That she would be alone. Forever.

"You can't leave," Caroline breathed heavily after so much shouting, "I won't let you."

Her breasts heaved against his chest as she sucked air in and out, trying to catch her breath. Her words hung between them, and the confession seemed to echo off the stone walls. She expected Klaus to throw her again, to snap her neck, or maybe yell at her some more, but what she did not expect was the bruising force of his lips on hers.

Klaus kissed her hard on the mouth, his hands fisting in her dress and ripping the bodice right off of her. Barely even registering her own surprise, Caroline kissed him back. He was still angry with her, unbelievably so. She felt it in his tight grip and the way their teeth gnashed together, in what was more of a collision of mouths than a true kiss. Still, she held him against her and let his fangs draw blood as her tongue scraped against him. There was that physical pain that she longed for these days. There was that _feeling_.

She probably should have slapped him. Kicked him or pushed him off of her. This was exactly the kind of thing she'd been trying to avoid all these years.

Instead, she sunk her hands in shirt and pulled him closer, letting his tongue slide and tangle with her own.

It barely took Klaus the span of a heartbeat to have her picked up and thrown on his bed. She heard more fabric ripping, and then Caroline sighed to feel the bare skin of Klaus' chest against her own. He wasted no time falling between her thighs, and he ground urgently against her, pressing bites and kisses to her neck. Caroline cried out when his fangs cut into her, breaking the skin over and over again. Soon enough she felt the the sheets beneath her grow sticky with blood. Klaus' hips still pistoned away, and they were both too urgent to do much of anything but groan at the clothes that separated them. When the folds of her dress were finally rucked up past her waist, Caroline couldn't help but scream out in triumph. His hard body rubbed perfectly against her, and she felt that wonderful wetness pool down below. She hadn't realized she'd missed it.

Caroline's legs wrapped around her husband's waist, pulling him harder against her, but he quickly reached back and untangled himself. With a rough shove, he pinned each of her legs to the bed, leaving her open to him. He didn't want intimacy, he wanted fire and anger and violence.

And she would give it to him.

As he pulled at his pants to free himself, Caroline let her own fangs dig into his shoulder. She moaned at his taste, and delighted in the muted curses he let out. Soon enough his own blood mixed with hers on the sheets, and yet they still carried on. Desperate for each other has ever.

When Klaus finally drove into her, Caroline's breath caught in her throat. It had been so long. Decades since she'd felt his body surging inside hers, and his hot breath on her neck. If his brutal pace was any indication, Klaus had missed this just as much as she had. They were no words of love whispered between them or slow kisses exchanged. That was not the purpose of this act. There was only the furious rutting of one body against another.

"Nik," she whimpered after a particularly rough thrust made her see stars. The sound of his name on her lips seemed to incite him even more, so she did it again. And again. And again. "Nik... Nik, oh my- Nik!"

In this position she had no control over his depth or pace or even the angle he pounded into her with, but that single word let her control so much more. He was hitting just the right spot over and over again, and Caroline felt herself begin to clench around him. Klaus groaned at the sensation, and he hitched one of her legs up higher to add to the wonderful friction. She came apart suddenly and loudly, screaming curses and encouragements and whatever else came pouring our of her mouth as the waves shook her core. She'd barely recovered before she was flipped over onto her stomach, her hips dragged up so she was resting precariously on her knees.

Klaus entered her again with a forceful shove, and it was all Caroline could do to smother her desperate moan in a pillow. He didn't like that though. He wanted to hear her. The soft fabric was ripped out from under her and tossed away so her screams of pleasure echoed loudly off the walls. Besides her own keening, all she could hear was the sound of his flesh slapping against hers as he took her like animal. All that was left for her to do was twist her hands in the sheets and hold on for dear life.

She felt Klaus finish with a cry, and she didn't last much longer before she was coming again. His hips hammered into hers until they stilled, and he was spent. They both breathed heavily for a moment before dropping gracelessly to the bed. Klaus at least had the decency to roll off her her so she could turn over onto her back.

The coupling had been violent and angry and filled with hate instead of love, but somehow it had been exactly what they both needed. An outlet for all the unspoken words and tension that had been building between them for years and years.

To her surprise, Caroline felt herself drifting off.

Sleeping in Klaus' bed, wrapped in his arms and still shaking from sex was a bad idea. But after a round like that, she wouldn't be able to walk for hours anyways. And she could always leave in the middle of the night if she decided that was what she wanted. Contented to sneak away once she regained her strength, Caroline snuggled deeper into the blankets and let herself sleep, completely oblivious to the stare of the man hovering above her. If she'd stayed conscious even a minute longer she would have heard his whispered plea.

"Come back to me, Caroline."

* * *

><p><strong>Hurrah for Klarosex! Even if it was hate sex...<strong>

**It's looking like this section will wrap up in four parts, so only two more chapters to go. Maybe. And then we get to one of the only fluffy sections in this entire fic. **

**I know a lot of you are hoping for the current day Mystic Falls section, but I have to disappoint you. The intention of this fic was to be a timeline of their 1000 years together, culminating in their final reconciliation in 2011. That's the end result, the final chapters. It was never my intention to build Caroline into the Original family and then skip over all the juicy parts of their history. These aren't flashbacks, these are the heart of the story. I'm willing to give you little snippets here and there of the future as they become relevant, but this story will largely take part in the past.  
><strong>


	17. 1205 AD - Part 3

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything related to TVD or TO belongs to the CW

_**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the Klarosex last chapter! We're about to get a mix of fluff and angst all pushed together, so I hope that tided you over! This 1200s section has got a little ways to go, so strap in! Lucky for you, there won't be TOO much more tension between Klaus and Caroline in the coming chapters. They've got a lot of recovering to do, which is going to be as difficult as it is lovely. On the off chance that you do want to be emotionally decimated by this chapter though, I'd recommend listening to Rumpelstiltskin in Love from the Once soundtrack while you read. Ouch.  
><strong>_

_**Also, I apologize, but Caroline goes a little crazy in this chapter...**_

* * *

><p><strong>1205 A.D - Part 3<strong>

* * *

><p>Caroline's return to consciousness was slow. Slower than she could remember it being in quite some time, but that might have been due to the delicious warmth that surrounded her. Each and every one of her muscles was perfectly relaxed, and every bone in her body felt like melted mush; fluid and smooth. It was amazing.<p>

She felt content to stay that way for the most part, until she took a deep, satisfied breath in through the nose. And the scent of sex nearly overwhelmed her.

Her eyes snapped open, and for one horrified moment, Caroline stayed exactly where she was. Her cheek pressed to Klaus' bare chest, and her arms draped over his torso. Much in the same way that his arms were wrapped up in her. One of his hands appeared to be locked around her waist, and the other had found its way into her hair to rest at the base of her neck. She was utterly trapped with nothing to do about it.

Caroline bit her lip and kept her breathing even.

She could get out of this. Vampire agility had not been given to her for nothing.

Careful not to even breathe wrong, she coiled her dainty fingers around his wrist and pulled it carefully out of her blonde curls. With even more delicacy, she lifted herself off of Klaus' chest and slipped slowly away from him. A great sigh of relief left her when she finally stood on the opposite side of the bed, her husband sleeping soundly as ever.

What on earth had possessed her to fall asleep here? Sex was sex, but snuggling into bed, wrapped in your lover's arms was… intimate. It was an act for husbands and wives, and those titles had become meaningless to her years ago. That was the mantra that Caroline kept up at least, as she ignored the strange clenching sensation in her heart at the thought of his face when he discovered she'd snuck out of bed like a thief in the night.

Her tattered dress had somehow made it halfway across the room, and she quickly and quietly bent down to put it back on. As she lifted the fabric off the floor and over her head, something else caught her eye. The floor was littered with various objects - the result of Klaus' anger and then their mutual passion - but the one that stood out to her was a stray bit of faded parchment. It must have been folded up in the trunk that Klaus had overturned in his rage. Her trunk. Somehow already knowing what it was, Caroline could not stop herself from reaching down and unfurling the dried out piece of paper.

Her drawing was even more damaged, a hundred years later. The edges were molded and the image blurry, but it was still her drawing. Her face still shone like the sun, and her innocent smile stayed fixed on her face. A face that looked somehow much younger than the one that stared back at her in the mirror every day, eternal youth or not.

Her finger traced over the lines on the paper, and against her will, her mind conjured memories that she'd locked away, forced into the deepest recesses of her mind. Rebekah swinging from high branches while Niklaus yelled at her to be careful. Kol cart-wheeling in an open field while Caroline chased after horses. A feather light kiss pressed to her lips in a dusty old barn. She gasped at the vividness of these images as they raced back to her, almost as if they were yesterday instead of 200 years ago. She even went so far as to raise her hand to her still tingling lips.

"I had no idea that you'd kept that until Rebekah showed it to me," Klaus' voice in her ear nearly made her jump.

Her fingers flew away from her lips and clenched into a fist, ashamed at being caught reminiscing. She only had to crane her neck slightly to find Klaus standing just behind her, his gaze on her face rather than the drawing he'd just referred to. Caroline tried her hardest to break eye contact with him, she really did. But where it had been so easy to sever the connection between them before, now it was nearly impossible. Their gazes stayed locked together, and his breath on her neck made her shiver.

After a sharp swallow, Caroline finally found the words to break their loaded silence. "I didn't know Rebekah even knew about it. It was a secret."

"Not a very well kept one then," Klaus smiled softly. "It was a year after you… I was giving up hope that you'd ever be the same Caroline again; the woman I loved. Rebekah showed me this," Klaus reached out to finger the edges of her drawing, "And seeing it again, remembering the person you used to be… the person I used to be. It gave me hope."

Caroline let her eyes drift shut as Klaus reached up to twirl one of her curls around his finger. "I'm not her," she whispered.

"I know that," Klaus nodded. "And I'm not him. The boy who drew that for you is gone. But they're still a part of us, Caroline. However small. If you'd just let yourself-"

"No," she cut him off abruptly and stepped out of his reach. She threw the drawing on the floor for good measure. "Stop this, it's pointless."

Everything was spiraling out of control. The memories, the soft voices, the sex. Her heart pounded furiously against her ribs, and her head felt like it was spinning off of her shoulders. The emotions she'd been keeping at bay were beating heavily against the wall they were locked behind, and any more talk from Klaus about love or marriage or their past would surely break the whole thing down. She could not have that.

"You think I can ever be that girl again?" Caroline laughed, but it came out far too shrill to be passed off as the kind of mockery she'd intended. "She was pathetic and trusting and weak, and she got a dagger in her heart because of it. I will never make that mistake again. Never."

Klaus would not give in though, and he stepped towards her. "You're right. The way you are now, you'll never feel the betrayal or the heartbreak that I put you through back then. You'll never have to be afraid or upset or angry. But that's only half of it Caroline. Half of who you are. You were so vibrant and full of light and love. You miss feeling that way, I know you do," he pleaded with her, his hands holding fast to her shoulders and his head ducking down to force her eyes to meet his. "Come back to me Caroline."

She could feel her hands shaking and teeth chattering with the force of keeping her humanity at bay. It seemed suddenly like that hidden part of herself was an animal trying to claw its way out of her. Caroline squeezed her eyes shut and focused every fiber of her being on keeping it suppressed.

"Come back," he murmured again, and she felt his lips brush gently against her own.

"No!" she screamed and threw Klaus off. "Stay away from me!" Caroline backed away from her husband, every part of her raging to get away from this new threat.

Klaus stretched his hands out in a placating gesture. "Caroline…"

"Leave me alone!"

Picking up her skirts, Caroline flashed out of the room as fast as she could and prayed he would not follow her. She couldn't be sure how long she ran or even in what direction. Trees and rocks and animals either got out of her way or become rubble in her wake.

The smartest solution for her problem would probably have been to find a quiet, solitary spot to pull herself together. A few hours to sort this all out, reconstruct that wall around her emotions, and stabilize the storm raging inside of her. Unfortunately, Caroline could not think of anything less terrifying that sitting alone with her thoughts for the next few hours.

Klaus' pleading eyes, his loving expression, the delicious sensation of his body moving against hers.

These were all things that she would fixate on if left to her own devices. And they were all things that could and would chip away at the tight hold she'd had on her humanity for the past forty years. No, the proper alternative here would be to drown out all thoughts of her husband and her marriage and her family; and nothing drowned her quite so perfectly as a veritable massacre of blood.

Kol. She needed Kol.

He would understand this need to kill, and he would surely help her along the way. It was his specialty after all, indulging in feeding and mahem.

Thinking back on the last place she'd seen him, Caroline realized that Klaus must have left him with the wolf pack in order to chase after her. A bold move, but neither of them had been thinking especially straight. Not even knowing if Kol would still be there, Caroline took off in the direction the wolves' camp had been earlier that evening. As expected, the nomadic group of wanderers had decided to do what they did best: pack up and move. What had been a lively and contented campsite only hours ago was now a caravan of crying children and grumbling wives. Belongings were slung over shoulders and carts were piled high with trunks and bags that could not be carried.

At the front of the pack, Caroline spotted him. Tobias.

He was helping a boy gather clothing off a hanging line, stuffing the pants and vests roughly into a bag. The boy - a young man really, probably just over marrying age - seemed dejected and upset. This constant moving would certainly have taken its tole on the younger members of the pack, who needed stability more than anything in their lives. Tobias noticed his somber attitude, and raised both hands to cup the boys cheeks. He whispered something, a word of encouragement or reassurance, and the boy's face cracked into a reluctant smile.

That small gesture very suddenly made Caroline irrationally angry.

Tobias was exactly what Klaus would have needed growing up. A strong, kind, compassionate man who could protect his family and love them at the same time. Nothing like Mikael. Caroline abruptly understood why Klaus had clung so tightly to the man. Tobias was the father he'd been robbed of his whole life. He was a second chance at a family; one that accepted the other half of him that his vampire family never could. Caroline had never felt like she looked down on Klaus' wolf heritage, but Elijah? Kol, Rebekah, Finn? They had never quite accepted that side of Klaus like he so clearly needed them to.

And here was Tobias offering him that very thing. Offering him a way out.

Caroline had burned the bridge between the two men, she knew she had. The moment Tobias had seen Klaus' eyes bleed red and his fangs descend, any acceptance he'd won had been lost forever. But that was not enough. Her hands shook and her heart beat loudly in her ears, and Caroline decided that it would _never _be enough. She didn't need to burn the bridge, she needed to destroy it. Decimate it beyond all recognition.

Klaus was her family, not theirs, and she needed to make that absolute.

Stepping out of the shadows of the trees, it didn't take long for Tobias to catch sight of her.

"You," he stepped in front of the boy he'd just been comforting, placing himself between his pack and danger. Good. She was very dangerous after all. "You are not welcome here, vampire. Leave now."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at the order. She could feel a small spark of madness being fanned into flames inside of her. It made her unreasonable and illogical. But she couldn't seem to fight it. She could only grab on and see where it carried her.

Angry words and threats came tearing out of her, "How dare you. How dare you take my husband from me. How dare you order me around as if you have any authority over me."

"I am the leader of this pack," Tobias answered powerfully. "I have the only authority that matters."

"The moon isn't full tonight, wolf," Caroline hissed at him. "Your authority means nothing without the power to back it up. Against me, you're powerless."

Tobias leaned down and picked up a sharp piece of wood off the forest floor. "We'll see about that."

Caroline laughed at the makeshift stake. She was an Original. If he somehow did manage to get the thing in her heart, it wouldn't do much. Not for long anyway. Idiot.

"Careful, Tobias," his named dripped off her lips like honey. "I didn't come here to kill you, but I will."

The large man had the nerve to chuckle at that. She seethed that he could find any threat from her humorous. Didn't he know who she was? What she was? She could tear him to pieces without breaking a sweat. Hell, she could sew a needlepoint at the same time. Still, he didn't seem to take her seriously at all, and she couldn't decide if he was delusional or just putting on a brave face for his people. She guessed the latter.

"Of course you came here to kill me," Tobias kept his voice low as he started to stalk towards her. Caroline briefly noticed that he was steering her attention away from the people behind him, over to an empty clearing a few paces away. Such a gentleman. Tobias kept speaking, and she let him. Despite herself, she was interested in what he had to say. "I know enough about your kind. Possessive. Jealous. Selfish. You may not be capable of love, but greed and envy? They're your natural state of being. All those hours Niklaus spent out here with me instead of chasing after you? Of course you came here to kill me."

"Stop." Caroline warned. "You do not understand anything about Niklaus. You never did."

"I never knew what a monstrosity he was," Tobias agreed. "But I know him. Perhaps I know him better than even you do? Perhaps that is what has you so on edge?"

"Liar!"

"Face it, madam," his mocking tone was clear, "Your husband was looking for an escape, and it wasn't from the pressures of his family. It was from you."

A vicious snarl escaped her, and before she knew it, Caroline was on top of the man. She tore into his neck, letting his blood coat her tongue and drip down her throat. His jugular torn, Tobias bled out rather quickly, and she felt the once strong man die in her arms after barely a minute. It took her less time than that to realize something was wrong. His blood burned like acid in her mouth, and Caroline quickly threw his body away from her. Vervain. The old man had taunted her into attack because he had ingested vervain in order to weaken her. Just as he'd clearly planned, she fell to the ground and gagged on the poison filled blood that had made its way into her system. Everywhere around her, the wolves began to run for the woods, taking what they could and fleeing.

Tobias was a smart man. He thought that luring her into an attack would put her down long enough for the rest of his people to escape. His sacrifice had been meant to save his family, but he had be missing a key bit of information. She was an Original. A mortal weakness in any other vampire was a mere bump in the road for her. The amount of vervain she'd swallowed would have kept one of her younger cohorts down for at least an hour. Caroline recovered in only a few minutes.

Pain and anger and heartbreak all warred within her, and the only solution she could find was the one she'd intended all along. A bloodbath.

* * *

><p>Oh dear.<p>

This was certainly a mess.

In the early morning light, Kol stepped over body after body, taking note of the fact that very few had any bite marks. Most of them were just broken spines, twisted necks, ripped out hearts, and the like. Every now and then he'd come across a slashed jugular or the puncture wounds of dainty fangs, but even then the blood was mostly on the forest floor. This had not been about insatiable hunger, it had been about the kill. The hunt.

And at the center of it all was Caroline.

Drenched in blood, curled over herself on her knees, and shaking like a leaf, the only sounds his sister made were sharp and quiet cries that snuck past the hands she'd clamped over her mouth.

On any other day, Kol would congratulate her on her good form. There had to be at least fifty bodies strew out over the forest floor and hanging from the trees above. Caroline had torn through them single-handedly with precision and ferocity. A feat that they should have been celebrating and dancing over. Instead, she seemed to be in a haze of despair and shock, which could only mean one thing.

Her humanity was back, full force. And his partner in crime was gone.

Kol sighed and bent down next to her. "Caroline, darling. What happened?"

She just shook her head and sobbed again. Her hands left her mouth to touch the body she'd been bent over, and Kol peeked around her to look. Seeing the boy's face was like peering through a window straight into past. The likeness was not identical, but the dead boy on the ground was nearly a mirror image of poor dead Henrik. His body torn and bloody, his eyes dead and vacant. Kol felt like this child could have been ripped straight out of their own family tragedy 200 years ago and placed right on the ground before them.

He shook his head, focusing on the difference in the shade of the child's hair and the curve of his nose. This was not Henrik.

"Caroline," Kol tried to reason with her again, "It's time to go home. We'll get you cleaned up and changed out of these ripped clothes-"

"It's my fault," Caroline whispered helplessly. Well that much was obvious, Kol thought helplessly. She was drenched in blood and reeking of regret. This crime belonged to her and her alone. She whimpered out her confession anyways. "Henrick followed me out of the caves that night. He died because of me," Caroline sobbed. "We're this way because of me. Monsters. This is... my fault."

Kol had seen this dozens of times. Vampires who regained their humanity often felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for their actions. So much so that every past misdeed came tearing through to the surface. Especially those that you regretted most of all. It seemed that Caroline's deepest regret was not anything she'd done in her debauched emotionless years, but that very first sin of hers, which had led to them becoming vampires in the first place.

Through her blubbering, Kol tried to reassure her, "Shhh, there's nothing to be done about it right now. Let's just get you away from all of this."

"I can fix it," Caroline surged forward with sudden determination. She bit into her wrist deeply, and blood gushed out of the new wound. She hoisted the body up, and placed the gash against the dead boy's lips, forcing blood into a mouth that would not swallow. Still she persisted, "I can fix it."

"No, no," Kol gently pulled the boy away from her, getting blood all over his front. "You can't."

"I can," she finally looked him in the eye, and he saw the despair and near insanity there. His poor sister.

Kol set the boy down and grabbed her face, pressing his forehead to hers. He made sure to look her dead in the eye. "You can't, Caroline."

She was breathing fast and choppy, every inhale broken by a sob and every exhale stifled by a sniffle. He held her shaking form against his, knowing she just had to ride out the misery. Eventually she began to calm, but Kol kept his arms around her to comfort her anyways. He'd wanted her humanity back, but not like this. He'd planned for it to be controlled and gradual. Something he could ease her into. This mass murder was exactly the opposite of what he'd wanted for Caroline's reunion with her emotions. When Klaus found out...

Kol froze in his place. A sense of dread overtook him as he looked around at the dead bodies. The dead _wolf_ bodies.

When Klaus found out about this slaughter, he would be livid. Having his wife back would mean nothing when he learned what she'd done to his people. He would see it as a personal attack - one of many as of late, to be honest - and he would dagger Caroline for sure, if he didn't rip her limb from limb and dump her in the ocean first. Klaus' temper was legendary, and he would not be thinking clearly when he took his vengeance. All the progress Kol had made on both their behalves, it would be ruined.

This needed to be covered up. Fast.

He flashed over to a hanging clothes line and grabbed a dress for her, quickly ridding her of the one she was wearing and tucking her into the new one. Grabbing a canteen of water, he washed the blood off of Caroline's hands and face with no help from her at all. She just sat there, staring at the dirt under her knees, occasionally letting loose a stream of tears.

"There, good as new," he smiled, trying to get her to respond. Nothing. "I'll take care of the bodies, you just head into town and get back to the manor as soon as you can. Klaus will simply think the pack left, just as they intended to. No one has to know."

Caroline shook her head, "I have to tell him. I have to..." she shuddered under a new round of tears.

"No," Kol grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke firmly. "Klaus can _never _know you did this. Promise me, Caroline. Say it!"

"Klaus will never know I did this," Caroline whispered.

"Again. Promise me."

"He'll never know," she said again, stronger this time. "I promise. Thank you, Kol."

His confident smirk almost drew a smile out of her. "What are big brothers for?"

With one last hug, Caroline wiped herself off and headed towards the tree line. She'd just barely made it out of sight when Kol turned back towards the bodies, debating whether to burn or bury them. That apparently was no longer an issue, as Klaus now stood amongst the slaughter, his wide eyes staring down at the destruction before him. His brother's gaze fell on Tobias' bloody body, and Klaus fell to his knees next to the man. Apparently his affection for his second father-figure had been deeper than anticipated because he looked to Kol as if he were about to cry.

"Ah, brother," Kol carefully approached Klaus head on. "I had expected you and Caroline to be busy for quite some time, what are you doing out here?"

"She ran off," Klaus barely breathed the words out. "I came to look for her and... what happened?"

Kol swallowed loudly. A choice had to be made here, and it was not an easy one. The things he did for his family... "Admiring my artistry, are you?"

Klaus' eyes snapped up to him, "You... you did this?"

"Of course," he shrugged as if they were discussing a recent purchase at the market, "I've always told you that predators make the best prey, and werewolves... well they're the fiercest predator of all, aren't they? Not so much anymore though, I suppose..."

Kol made sure to look over the bodies in distaste, as if he were disappointed. This was the only way he could think of to save Caroline from her husband's wrath. The consequences would be grave, but they would be worth it if Caroline got to recover in peace. If his family was finally one step closer to being put back together. As expected, Klaus did not share his lackadaisical attitude. In an instant, Kol felt himself slammed up against a tree, Klaus' hands at his throat.

Looking his brother in the eye, he saw murder there. Klaus would kill him if he could. "These were _my people_," he shouted in Kol's face. "My pack! And you slaughtered them like dogs! Just like you did with Mikael all those years ago! Monster!"

Kol gasped for air and pushed back with all his might. There was brief struggle between them, but Klaus eventually caved under the pressure, sending both of them sprawling in opposite directions. Barely a blink of the eye passed before they were on their feet and back at each other. Klaus tacked Kol, but he'd been prepared for that. A well timed roll and a properly placed kick sent Klaus skidding into the dirt. Kol tried to run, but Klaus was faster. Always had been. They were back on the ground a moment later, tussling for control. Finally, Kol grabbed a stick off the ground and shoved it into Klaus hip. The pain only seemed to make him angrier, and Klaus grabbed a weapon of his own. A branch whittled away into a stake. He raised it above his head menacingly, aiming for the heart.

"Stop!"

Both their heads snapped up at the sound of Caroline's voice.

Klaus' hand stayed raised, but he hesitated, leaving the stake hovering there in the air. Kol's eyes slid shut in frustration. He'd told the girl to return home, and here she was, right back at the scene of her own crime. She did present a wonderful distraction though, which Kol used to roll Klaus off of him.

"Caroline," Kol rose to his feet, making sure to look his sister right in the eye so she could see the warning there." I thought I sent you running home after your little break down? What on earth are you doing back here?"

"I..." she looked quickly between Klaus and the bodies surrounding him, and then back to Kol. "I heard fighting. I just thought..."

"Yes, Klaus was upset with my little demonstration here. Hard man to please, that one."

Caroline looked more confused than ever, but Klaus was back on his feet and eager for blood. "Leave, Caroline. Kol has a date with a dagger that I'd hate for him to miss."

"You ungrateful bastard," Kol joked pleasantly, as if he hadn't already sentenced himself to death. "Here I hand-deliver your wife back to you, and this is the appreciation I get? Shameful."

"What on are you on about, Kol?" Klaus growled angrily.

"Take a closer look," he pointed in Caroline's direction.

For the first time since she'd arrived, Klaus did just that. He looked Caroline over from head to toe, taking in her disheveled state. The slump of her shoulders. The way her arms wrapped around her torso as if trying to hold herself together. The slight wobble of her lower lip. Her tear-stained face. She was the picture of human emotion, and even through his blind rage, Klaus could see it.

Kol knew he was taking a gamble here. If Klaus looked too closely, he might spot the torn flesh under Caroline's fingernails or smell the wolf blood that lingered in her hair. But he was betting on Klaus focusing on the one thing that he'd been desperately longing to see again all these years. His wife's humanity.

Klaus slowly stepped towards Caroline, astonishment warring with the anger on his face. "Caroline?"

"I-I didn't mean to," she murmured under her breath, and the sound was barely distinguishable as more than a childlike whimper.

"Poor creature" Kol interrupted her her before she could say anything more damning. "So guilty over all those decades of misdeeds. Common problem with a sudden onslaught of a conscience."

After a pointed look from him, Caroline nodded along. She remembered her promise. Klaus approached her slowly, like one would a wounded animal. Looking her in the eye, he raised both hands to cup her face and just stared at her. She sighed and relaxed into his embrace, reaching up to grab his hands in her own. For the first time in years, there was love in her eyes, no matter how deeply buried under pain and regret it was.

Klaus stared in wonder, "How...?

"Caroline stumbled on my little display earlier," Kol lied through his teeth. "I told you I'd get her back to herself one day. Apparently I just needed to up the body count a bit. Who knew? But tried and true, I return your wife to you. Never let it be said that Kol Mikaelson welches on a deal."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at the lie, but bit her lip to keep her promise. She must have realized how very much she needed her husband right now. It would be a bumpy road to recovery and the thought of doing so without the love of her life to help her along was obviously more upsetting than the thought of lying to him. So she bit her tongue and let Kol tell the story.

"You did this because..." Klaus trailed off, looking around at the bodies on the ground and then back at Caroline. "This was too far, Kol."

"You are the one who said 'by any means' brother," he argued back. He gestured again at the massacre. "This was apparently the means. And you know what they say about means justifying ends."

Klaus stepped away from Caroline, and Kol could tell it took a great deal of effort for Klaus to focus back on his anger instead of his compassion for his wife. Damn. "I can't let this stand Kol. This is too much."

"They're just wolves, brother. It's not like they matter," Kol rolled his eyes and then instantly regretted those words.

Klaus' true lineage had been an unspoken point of tension between their family for centuries. Klaus didn't bring it up, so neither did any of them. For the most part, Kol had assumed that he'd wanted to disown his birth father and everything that he entailed. He certainly treated his bastard status with enough distaste to warrant that assumption. Seeing him now though, wounded and and mourning these people, Kol had to reevaluate. Perhaps Klaus had felt more connected to his wolf side all these years than he'd let on. They were not the dogs that had killed Henrik or the monsters that had tormented their childhood back in their home village. Not to Klaus. To him they were a strange sort of family. For the second time that night, Kol was more than happy he'd decided to take the fall for Caroline.

His brother circled him menacingly, "They matter."

"Nik, I'm sorry. Of course they matter to you-"

He didn't even finish his sentence before Klaus was on him. A sharp pain in his chest triggered a coldness to seep through Kol's veins, and he looked down in surprise to find a wooden stake there, Klaus' hand twisted it inside of him.

"They matter," Klaus hissed in his face.

Kol let out a deep death rattle as the icy coldness overtook him. Death was always such a transient thing, and he'd experienced it a dozen times before now. This felt different though. Kol had no doubt that he would not reawaken before this stake was replaced with a dagger. A fitting punishment for a crime he did not commit. This part had not been in the plan at all. But as he heard Caroline calling out for Klaus to stop, he used the last of his strength to lock eyes with his sister and slowly shake his head at her. She needed Klaus right now. Through her tears, Caroline clenched her jaw and slowly nodded back. She would keep the secret. Klaus would wake him up eventually, and maybe then... maybe they could all be family again.

Kol's last thought before he sunk down into the abyss was one of hope. Who'd have ever figured that?

* * *

><p><strong>And so Caroline's big brother takes the fall for her. Say what you want about Kol's psychotic tendencies, he loves his family.<strong>

**And I really wanted to highlight Kol's relationship with Klaus here too, and how Klaus has always felt like his family secretly hated his wolf side. They all rallied to Mikael's first wolf hunt a little too quickly, and that stuck with Klaus. He's a little hurt that they still see the wolves (and him by extension) as enemies. **

**Caroline is going to struggle with the guilt of this lie for a long time, but ultimately she knows that she is _this_ close to breaking in half under the weight of her newly restored humanity. Klaus has been eagerly waiting to help her through this transition, so admitting what she'd done would be tantamount to throwing his support in the trash. She needs him. So we're going to see her recovering in the next chapter, and Klaus helping her through that.**

**Which means some slightly angsty fluff. That makes sense, right?**


	18. 1205 AD - Part 4

**Title**: If I Die Young

**Disclaimer**: Anything TVD or TO related belongs to the CW

_**A/N: There's a very sweet little Klaroline moment in this chapter, for all of you that have been crying over how heavy this story is. I hope you enjoy the fluff, even if it's mired in Caroline's own personal angst fest.** _

_**Reviews have been a little scarce lately - something I actually appreciated for a while there haha - but if you feel so inclined, let me know what you think of this chapter, this section, this story as a whole. I'm always interested in feedback :)**_

* * *

><p><strong>1205 A.D - Part 4<strong>

* * *

><p>"Please drink something, Caroline." Klaus urged his wife gently.<p>

Despite his coaxing, the cup of blood in his hands stayed where it was, and Caroline simply pulled her knees to her chest and sank further into their bed. He could see the veins run over her face and her eyes grow dark with hunger, but she only bit her lip and shook her head.

"I'm just not ready," she whispered hoarsely. "Please take it away."

Klaus fought the urge to growl in irritation. "You're not doing anyone any good by starving yourself, love."

"Please."

Her eyes were full of desperation, and so just like every other time, Klaus took the cup back and left her to her grief. What she was mourning in particular, he could never tell. Perhaps that first little boy she'd slaughtered without her humanity? Perhaps the hundreds in the decades after? Maybe even Kol, who now lay daggered in a box for his crimes? As he closed the door behind him, he watched Caroline lay down on the bed and stare at the wall; a favorite pass time of hers lately. He shook his head sadly and headed back towards the dining room.

Caroline had been this way since he'd carried her home three weeks ago from the woods. She'd been barely holding it together, and seeing Kol go down must have been the last straw for her. Something inside of her was broken, and Klaus had no idea how to piece it back together. He'd never known a vampire who'd turned away from their humanity for as long as Caroline had, so he had no idea what the recovery process looked like. Weeks? Months? Years? He shuddered at the thought of her suffering under the weight of her guilt for that long. His cheerful, compassionate, beautiful Caroline had never been meant to be locked away like this. But her self-imposed exile was the only thing she'd requested, and Klaus could not deny her anything at the moment.

Their days all looked the same because of it. He arrived in the morning, helped his weakened wife bathe and dress, enough to make sure she was not a mess. Then he carried her back into bed and offered her a cup of blood from the single human servant they had left in the place. She refused, so instead he read to her. Or sketched quietly in the corner if she asked for silence. The daylight whittled away until it was time for her to deny another meal, and then she'd weep silently until the candles burned down to wicks. Sleep, wake up, repeat.

The monotony seemed to soothe Caroline, but it was driving Klaus mad. And he wasn't the only one.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Elijah and Rebekah looked up hopefully at his return. One glance at his disappointed glower told them all they needed to know. Caroline was not any better.

"I thought she was insane before, but now she's even worse," Rebekah sighed loudly. "She'll go mad with hunger and attack someone eventually, she knows that's how it happens, so why doesn't she feed?"

Klaus took a place at the table opposite her but did not acknowledge her complaints. He didn't have the energy to fight with his sister today.

Elijah thankfully took up the task for him. "Show some sympathy, Rebekah. She's gone through an awful ordeal that none of us can begin to understand."

"I understand just fine," their sister slouched down in her chair, pouting. "She spent nearly fifty years gorging herself on anything with a pulse, and now she's punishing herself by abstaining. Honestly, it's like Finn all over again."

"Well done, Bekah," Klaus grumped. "Very sympathetic."

She made a rude gesture at him but otherwise stayed silent. For all her nagging, Klaus could tell that Rebekah genuinely did worry over Caroline and her return to humanity. With both Finn and Kol daggered, their little family was growing littler by the day. She no doubt worried that if Caroline didn't improve soon, she too would take a little nap in a coffin. She couldn't know that Klaus would never even consider the idea at this point. Daggering his wife had been the single worst decision he'd made to date, and he wouldn't make that choice again easily.

"Niklaus," Elijah chimed in, making sure to keep his voice low and calm. "We still need to begin discussing our departure from this place."

Klaus sighed. They'd been over this. "I've told you, we can't move her like she is now. Caroline is likely to tear into the first human that crosses her path with how long she's gone without blood. She's too delicate."

"The entire situation is delicate," Elijah argued, "But I'm afraid we cannot bend to Caroline's condition any longer."

"You will bend whichever way I ask, Elijah," Klaus ordered him gruffly. "You wanted a solution to the our problem, and I delivered. Caroline is back in touch with her true self, and there will be no more suspicious deaths to draw attention to us. The next place we settle in will be of a more permanent nature, and you and Rebekah can be blissfully happy again. But until Caroline is in a state to make that move, I will stay here with her."

"And I will not," Elijah countered quickly.

Klaus stared at him in silent confused for a moment. "Excuse me?"

"I've put up with this situation for far too long, Niklaus," his brother scooted his chair back from the table and stood up. "You've placed our family in inexcusable danger these past months by staying here. And for what? Some selfish need to know a family that was never yours to begin with?

"Careful Elijah," Klaus warned him in a low voice. He was still upset over the loss of Tobias and the wolves he'd grown close too. Bringing up their deaths was tempting fate, and they all knew it.

Elijah didn't heed the warning. "The danger of exposure is even worse with this new wolf massacre. Kol might as well have sent father a signed letter telling him where we are."

"I cleaned it up!" Klaus yelled.

"Not well enough!" Elijah screamed back. "The surviving wolves ran for the hills with stories of un-killable vampires on their lips, which means Mikael is likely on his way to us right now. He will wipe out our entire family, and I cannot have that. You may think that Caroline is on the road to recovery, but I see her for what she truly is. A tragedy. She is broken, brother, and she is not improving. I will not wait any longer to see progress. I leave tonight with Rebekah."

Klaus snapped his head in his sister's direction, and noticed that she'd been eerily silent. Her face was turned down toward her plate, and she guiltily picked through the food on it with her fork, refusing to meet his gaze. That was all the proof Klaus needed to know that she was in fact in on Elijah's plan to abandon their home.

"You would leave us here alone then? Unprotected? At the mercy of our father?"

"On the contrary," Elijah folded his hands behind his back. "You can always come with us."

Klaus laughed darkly. "I've just told you that's not an option at all."

"It seems you have a choice to make then. Leave with us tonight, Caroline in tow, or stay and risk your deaths. I don't want to do this, Niklaus, but the safety of my family is something I will not compromise on. In a few hours time, Rebekah and I will load up our brothers, daggered as they may be, and we will leave. Are you coming or not?"

"We're staying," Klaus growled.

"Well then," his brother moved towards the doors to leave, "I wish you the best of luck, and I dearly hope to see you in Granada soon. Goodbye, Niklaus."

As their brother left, Rebekah kept her gaze down. Her could practically smell the regret and guilt pouring out of her, but there was also something else there. Resolve. His sister was not being forced to go, as no one could ever truly force Rebekah into anything. She wanted to leave. No doubt Elijah had tempted her with promises of a new beginning, a permanent home, and dazzling sights. Burgundy had never quite been to her liking, so a chance to try again somewhere far away would not have been a hard sell.

Klaus could not help but feel betrayed. "You're abandoning me then?"

"No," Rebekah rushed to answer him, "Never, Nik. Come with us. Together we can keep Caroline under control, I promise."

"It's more than that," he sighed and dragged a tired hand across his face. He leaned both elbows on the table, slouching forward and finally showing the depth of his stress and hopelessness. "The bloodlust is a problem, but not an insurmountable one. The real issue is her fragility. I've never seen her so desolate, Bekah. Dragging her across the countryside, with so much stimulation and so many temptations… I just want her to be a bit stronger. More herself."

Rebekah would not be dissuaded though. "Don't you think she'll recover better in a place that doesn't hold so many ghosts for her? These walls are practically painted red with the blood of her victims."

"I know, but…" Klaus tried to search for the right words to explain himself. "I'm scared, Rebekah. I'm terrified that one good push in the wrong direction will undo the whole thing."

He hung his head in shame, and Rebekah moved around the table to comfort him. They had always been taught that admitting to fear was the deepest sign of weakness, one that a warrior should never allow. Klaus carried around his secret fears as if they were weights around his ankles, pulling down his every step. And yet, Rebekah would never see it that way. She refused. Just as he had embraced her when she used to shamelessly sneak into his room during storms to hide from the thunder as children, she now embraced him. His precious little sister had always been his one true confidant in these matters. She stroked his hair and hugged him to her, and Klaus let her. He let himself be consoled, if only for a brief moment.

"You think she'll decide that it's all too much again, don't you?"

"She did it once," Klaus folded his hands together in his lap, wringing them back and forth. "What's to stop her from doing it again?"

Rebekah didn't have an answer for that. Because there was none. No one could predict what Caroline would do once this waiting period was over. She was just as likely to slaughter the first person she met as she was to break down into wracking sobs. She was like a raw nerve, exposed to the elements and set to go off at a moment's notice.

"We cannot leave with you," Klaus finally murmured. "Not until I know she can handle it."

Rebekah pursed her lips together but nodded. "I understand. But I'm scared too, Nik. I'm scared of Mikael, and that fear is telling me to go. You can't leave, but I can't stay. I'm sorry."

Her apology was accompanied by the cold slide of metal into his hand. Klaus looked down and saw a dagger resting there, coated with ash and ready for wielding. He looked up at his sister, full of questions. "What...?"

"Elijah wanted to take the rest of them with us. For protection. Against Mikael and against you, I suppose," she admitted the last part with a heavy dose of remorse. "But the thought of leaving you here alone… unarmed. I can't do it, Nik. At least with this, you'll have a shot at putting him down."

"I…" Klaus was speechless. He wasn't sure who would win in a fight between him and Mikael, but he knew the crippling fear he had of the man would certainly level the playing field. This dagger could be a blessing if he had the courage to use it. "Thank you."

With one last kiss to his forehead, Rebekah took off after Elijah. They no doubt had quite a bit of packing to do before they stole away in the dead of night. Now alone in the grand room, Klaus bitterly knocked over the goblet of blood that Caroline had denied earlier. His family would be safe from their father, and that should have made him happy. But the threat that Mikael would stumble upon Caroline in her weakened state? That fear was so intense it nearly overwhelmed him.

Calling for the cook, their one remaining servant, he refilled the goblet. He'd have to try again later.

* * *

><p>Caroline listened to Rebekah and Elijah pack their few belongings into the carriage outside. Very soon, it would be just her and Klaus left in the house. She understood the need to leave, she truly did. Her little wolf fiasco had not been without consequence, and they had been pushing their luck as it was before. It would be a miracle if her latest slaughter had not drawn Mikael's eye in their direction. Caroline hadn't laid eyes on her father-in-law in nearly two centuries, but she was sure he was just as bloodthirsty as ever. It was probably for the best that Rebekah and Elijah were off. She and Klaus were the ones Mikael was after anyways. If he showed up in their sleepy little town, he'd head straight for the two of them.<p>

Still, Caroline could not have been more grateful to Klaus for allowing her to stay put.

He was right. She _was_ fragile. The tentative hold she had on her humanity was mostly due to the fact that she'd been able to completely isolate herself for the past few weeks. No human contact to tempt her into feeding, no petty judgment from Rebekah, and no painful reminder that her beloved brother was daggered because of her. Her entire world had been narrowed down to four walls and a roof, and she could not have asked for a better blessing.

Occasionally though, her four walls were breached by her martyr of a husband.

"Caroline?" Klaus popped his head in the door. She noticed that he carried a small ceramic bowl in his hands, and she nearly groaned. They'd been through this. She couldn't handle human blood right now. She just couldn't. He at least had the courtesy to set the bowl on the table by the door instead of bringing it right to her. "Elijah and Rebekah are gone. They send their regards, but they didn't want to delay any longer. We'll see them… soon."

"I'm surprised you let them leave," Caroline tried to keep the sulkiness out of her voice. "Though Elijah did make some good points earlier."

"You heard that?"

Caroline did her best to smile. "Every word. He thinks I'm hopeless, doesn't he?"

"What does he know?" Klaus perched himself on the edge of her bed, careful to keep his distance. He knew she didn't like to be touched. "He's just being Elijah. The good of the many over the good of the one and all that noble nonsense. He doesn't know you like I do. He can't see how strong you are."

"Strong," Caroline sighed, looking down at her slightly grey skin. She wouldn't begin to truly desiccate for another few months, but the process was already underway. "I don't feel very strong."

No doubt believing that she was finally opening up to him, Klaus hesitantly reached out to take her hand. "You're the strongest person I know, Caroline. You'll remember that soon enough."

"And what if I don't?" she asked, pulling her hand back away from him. She didn't have the strength to sound accusatory or quarrelsome though, she just sounded weary. "What if I stay in this dark hole of a bedroom forever?"

"Then I suppose I'll stay here with you," Klaus said matter-of-factly. Like it was foregone conclusion.

Caroline winced as another wave of emotion seemed to attack her from within. She loved this man so much. But with love came guilt and heartbreak, betrayal and shame. They were all linked together, fused by some unshakeable cord. Vampires felt so much more deeply than humans, and she only wished that she could find a way to separate out the good from the bad. If only for a moment. She thought she might have liked to feel her love for Klaus, unblemished by the heaviness of everything else.

"I brought you something," Klaus got up to retrieve the bowl, a smile on his lips as he carried it back to her.

"I don't want blood, I already told you-"

Klaus held the bowl up for her to see, "It's not blood."

She peered inside and to her surprise found a fresh helping of blackberries inside the bowl. A similar berry had been her and Rebekah's favorites when they were girls, but they could not find any farm or county in the Old World that grew them. Elijah had explained they must have been indigenous to the land around their village, thus undiscovered here. But these blackberries had come close to the taste of their old home, and so Caroline had loved them.

It was a beautiful gesture, even if she could not have been less hungry for human food. She smiled at Klaus nonetheless and picked one from the bowl. Taking a small bite, she let the flavor explode on her tongue and breathed in the fresh scent. It wasn't satisfying exactly, but it was better than the stale taste of nothingness she'd had lately. Klaus grabbed one himself and popped it into his own mouth. His playful grin was enough to get her smiling for real. How had she ever found this man? This wonderful, complicated, beautiful man?

As she reached for another berry, Caroline looked down at her fingers and noticed the juices that had leaked onto them. The berries might have been black, but their residue was of the deepest red. Blood red. She yanked her hand back and wiped it furiously on the blankets around her, desperate to get the color off. That didn't help matters at all, as it just stained the sheets bloody. She quickly tossed them off of her and clamped her hands over her eyes in frustration.

An harsh sigh accompanied the small tinkling sound of glass breaking. Klaus must have thrown the bowl of berries so hard it shattered. After a few heavy breaths, he calmed down and his sympathetic voice was back, even if it had a bit of an edge to it.

"Talk to me, Caroline," Klaus begged her. She just shook her head, so he pressed again. "Just tell me what you need."

She had to fight back a bitter laugh at that ridiculous request. What did she need? How on earth was she supposed to know the answer to that?

"Don't you think if I knew what I needed, I would get it for myself?" she asked, a hint of anger back in her tone. "I need blood, but I can't stomach the thought of drinking it. I need to cry, but every time I start I feel twice as awful as I did before. I want to throw things, but when they smash, I'm reminded that all I've done for years and years is destroy things. I've destroyed city after city, I've destroyed you, Kol, myself. Everything I touch is ruined. Everything that's happened... it's my fault."

"No," Klaus urged her to listen, "It was not all you. It was me, and it was Elijah and Rebekah, and it was _Kol_. He was a terrible influence on you, I should never had struck that deal with him."

Caroline had to grind her teeth together to keep from admitting their secret. Kol had only been trying to help her, and she'd murdered hundreds by his side. And then he'd gone and lied for her. Neither of them were innocent in this, but she had more blood on her hands by far. So much she was dripping with it. In a desperate attempt to feel something other than the anguish in her heart, Caroline let her fingers turn into claws and raked them down her face. The bloody wounds didn't even close, deprived of blood and strength as she was.

Klaus' hands reached out quickly to tear her nails away from her face.

"Don't!" he cried out, keeping a firm grasp on her wrists. "God, what have I done to you?"

Caroline's eyes shot up to his in confusion. "You didn't do anything, why would you say that?"

He swallowed slowly, hanging his head for a moment as if the weight on his shoulders had just become too much to bear. "I've apologized so many times before, but never since you've been... back to normal." Caroline narrowed her eyes at the euphemism. She might have had her humanity back but she was farm from normal. Klaus carried on anyways. "What I did to you, Caroline... daggering you. It was the worst choice I've ever made. It was selfish and desperate, and I'm _so_ sorry for putting you through this. I-"

"Stop, stop!" Caroline urged him, barely able to keep from plugging her ears to keep from hearing the apologies. "Please tell me you don't really believe that?" she pleaded with him. One look at his guilt-stricken face told her the truth. What a pair they were. "Listen to me when I say this, Niklaus. The place I am in now is not because of you or Kol or anyone but myself. I chose the path I chose, and it is mine to regret. What happened between us all those years ago... it's in the past. I don't have room for anger or bitterness anymore, and I-I..." she stuttered out, barely able to finish. "I need you."

Klaus looked for a moment like he wanted to take her in his arms, but she flinched away from the gesture, so he stayed put.

"You have me," he promised.

All she could do was shut her eyes tight and curl back into the bed, desperately trying not to sink further into the abyss. What a pathetic picture she must have made. Caroline felt the bed shift under her, and she knew that Klaus had curled up behind her. He made a concentrated effort not to touch her, though she was sure all he wanted was to wrap his body around hers and shield her from the outside world.

They'd promised to always protect each other after all.

Wanting to do something, anything, to prove to her husband that she still appreciated his efforts - that she still needed him here with her - she turned over slowly to face him. She reached out with one hand, careful to keep herself wrapped up tight, and linked her fingers through his. He kept his eyes on their linked hands, somehow knowing that the weight of his gaze on her was too much for the moment. Every now and then, he would stroke his thumb over her wrist to show that he was there. That he always would be.

They lay entwined like that for hours, the only physical connection between them the lightest brush of their hands. But when Caroline fell asleep that night, she felt safer and more whole than she had in over a hundred years.

* * *

><p>Mikael watched his two favorite children mount their horses and ride off after the carriage they'd loaded up with trunks and cases. They were smart to move on. Elijah, his eldest son, his pride and joy, had always been the sensible one. He would have made a great patriarch of his own family if that opportunity had been given to him. And Rebekah, his darling daughter. She might have been a reckless child, but she had known her place at the end of the day. Quiet, obedient, mindful. No matter how often she was tempted to rebel, she always did the right thing in the end.<p>

In a rare moment of love, Mikael decided to let the two of them rush off unhindered.

He had no quarrel with them so long as they did not stand in his way, and it appeared that they had finally decided to abandon their bastard of a brother. They should be rewarded for their good sense, not punished for it. So he stayed put as he watched their horses disappear over the horizon and into the night.

Part of him wanted to storm the house right this instant. Yank Niklaus out of his bed and run him through.

His hand even squeezed tightly around the white oak stake in his pocket. Not a one of children had any idea that he'd fashioned a weapon from the damn tree before they'd burnt it to the ground. Silly little ingrates. He thought he'd taught them to always be ten steps ahead in any battle. Even a battle as drawn out as this one. No matter how much strength it took to resist the urge to blow his bastard son's doors off, reason told him to wait. Ten steps ahead. He'd seen how often his children had turned humans into one of their own. The entire continent was crawling with the vermin these days, and Mikael couldn't be sure that there weren't two dozen of them waiting to pounce inside Niklaus' walls.

The one thing he could be sure of was that the sun would be his ally if that were the case. Daylight rings were powerful and rare, and no witch would willingly supply a vampire army with them. Attacking during the day would ensure that Klaus' had no allies left.

So he waited.

Tomorrow, when the sun rose, Niklaus would meet his end. And after 200 years, Mikael would finally be able to rest, knowing that his wife's murderer was dead.

* * *

><p><strong>So Caroline and Klaus begin to rebuild their trust. Everyone say it with me now: awwwww.<strong>

**You all probably guessed that this was how the section would end up. It stands to reason that it would have taken Mikael a long time to find Klaus - even 200 years. The world is big, and they were moving around a lot. Plus, by that point there were probably a couple thousand vampires running around Europe, and each one of them could have drawn Mikael's eye. But Klaus' gamble to stay isn't paying off, and Mikael has finally arrived.  
><strong>

**Next chapter we get their first real battle, and it's a big one!**


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